22/10/2004
NEWS STORY
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen emerged third after today's two free practice sessions for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos after setting a time of 1:11.526. Team mate David Coulthard was 15th with a time of 1:12.430
Kimi Raikkonen: "I was quite pleased with the set-up of the car from the very beginning, which always makes Friday's practice much more productive. I had one set of tyres which were not too good and that was one of the reasons why I had a little spin at the start of the second session at Turn Eight. It's going to be an interesting weekend, but it's important to make a perfect lap in qualifying, as we are all so close. There is no doubt that Ferrari will be strong here, but I believe we will be able to battle with them."
David Coulthard: "We went through our tyre evaluation programme, but unfortunately I couldn't show the full potential of the car as I got stuck in traffic which is often the case on this short circuit - on my fast lap I had to overtake three cars. Anyway I like this track because of its natural flow and have always performed well here, and hopefully I will do so again this weekend."
Ron Dennis: "A trouble free start to the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. Both drivers completed their pre-planned programme and we are now looking forward to the last race of the 2004 season."
Norbert Haug: "A productive free practice with good and consistent times by Kimi in race trim. We now have to make sure to continue on this performance level during the rest of the weekend when it counts."