22/07/2005
NEWS STORY
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Alex Wurz topped the timesheets after today's two practice sessions at Hockenheim for Sunday's Mobil 1 German Grand Prix with a time of 1:13.973. Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya's times of 1:14.576 and 1:15.772 put them second and fourth in the second practice session.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We spent today working on our race set-up. The car was quick almost immediately which is always a good sign, and we could spend some more time on our Michelin tyre programme. I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend where I hope that the weather will stay dry and sunny. The aim is to win the race and after today's sessions I'm certain that we have a very strong package which will allow us to do that."
Juan Pablo Montoya: "The car looks very competitive compared to the rest of the field, and the Michelin tyres are working well. However, I'm struggling with the brake balance which is so important here at Hockenheim. I'm sure that we will find a solution to the problem in time for tomorrow's qualifying. I will be doing my flying lap last for the first time this year which hopefully will provide me with a bit of an advantage, but as always anything can happen particularly if it starts raining."
Alex Wurz: "I'm really happy with our performance today at the Mercedes-Benz home grand prix, and it's especially satisfying to have set the fastest time of the day. We still have some work to do regarding our Michelin tyre choice and the general fine tuning of our race set-up. The track was very slippery in the first session which took me by surprise, but the grip level continued to increase throughout the day. The results of my long runs provided us with plenty of data which will help Kimi and Juan Pablo for the rest of the weekend."
Ron Dennis: "Two trouble free practice session where as always we were evaluating the Michelin tyres. If we maintain our pace and reliability for the rest of the weekend we should be able to leave Hockenheim with two strong results."
Norbert Haug: "A good day's work when we completed our planned programme focusing on race set-up and Michelin tyre evaluation. We hope that we can continue our progress for the remainder of the weekend, and weather permitting we are confident of being competitive at our home grand prix."