29/07/2005
NEWS STORY
West McLaren Mercedes driver Alex Wurz set the second fastest time after both of today's practice sessions at Budapest with 1:20.519. Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya finished the second free practice session in 1:21.281 and 1:21.662 which were the third and sixth fastest times of the day respectively.
Kimi Raikkonen: "Today has gone well and I am pretty happy with the balance of the car. The track was still not at its best as it was rather dusty which is normal for the Friday at Hungary. I feel that there is still some room for us to improve and the times will drop once we have a clean and fast line. There is still some work to do during free practice tomorrow morning when we will do the final tweaks to our set up for qualifying and the race."
Juan Pablo Montoya: "I completed my planned programme today, and I am satisfied with the work I have done. The car feels good with the race set up. I am not too worried about the temperatures as it was just as hot when we tested in Jerez a fortnight ago, so I think we are well prepared for the rest of the weekend."
Alex Wurz: "I feel very comfortable with the car, but it is just disappointing that I got stuck in traffic at the end of the session as I had the chance to get the fastest time today. However we should be in good shape for the rest of the weekend. I was focusing on long runs with the selection of Michelin tyres in mind, and we have enough data to assist our strategy planning for the rest of the weekend. I like the track here as it is very challenging and the high temperatures are all part of that."
Ron Dennis: "All three drivers did a good job today in low grip conditions with no major excursions, and we worked well on our Michelin tyre choice and optimising set up for the race. Whilst we feel that we have a competitive package the whole team will continue to work very hard over the rest of the weekend endeavouring to maximise the points achievable."
Norbert Haug: "We completed our planned programme and all drivers posted good and consistent lap times. But it's Sunday that counts and everybody in the team is aware of this."