21/05/2005
NEWS STORY
David was the unfortunate victim of an altercation between Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralph Schumacher during this morning's second free practice session. Although David braked hard to avoid the incident, Jacques Villeneuve, who was running behind him, hit the rear of David's car, in turn pushing him into Ralph Schumacher. The team had to change the rear-end, floor and front right suspension of David's car before this afternoon's qualifying.
David Coulthard: Not bad, that was quite a tidy lap considering all the new parts that had to be fitted following this morning's incident with Montoya. He gesticulated at Ralph just before Turn three near the Casino, which ended in a multi-car pile up. I think that he should perhaps receive some sort of penalty for that. It can be difficult to start from the middle of the grid here, so I hope to move up the starting order tomorrow.
Tonio Liuzzi: Unfortunately it was not so good being first out on the track. The road surface was really, really dirty and it was quite difficult. I'm not so happy with my time and think it was quite slow compared to those that I set this morning. For sure, I'll be looking to make up some positions on the grid tomorrow.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: David did an excellent lap considering the car had to be rebuilt after this morning's accident and his time gives us a good position to work from in tomorrow's qualifying session. Following his early retirement in Barcelona, Tonio was first on the track when the circuit was still quite dirty. However, despite a scary moment through Casino Square, he held on well and got a solid time.
Günther Steiner, Technical Director: I think Tonio struggled a little, being first on the road after the Porsche Supercup race, but there were no major problems. The track was dirty, but technically everything was good. David's mechanics did an excellent job to get his car ready after this morning's incident. It can sometimes be hard for a driver to go straight back out and attack following an accident, but David's experience behind the wheel meant he was not affected. He quickly got a good feeling in the car and there were no problems at all.