23/06/2006
NEWS STORY
Jean Todt: It's a pleasure to be back here racing at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, where we can always count on very enthusiastic support from our fans. Today, we completed the usual Friday programme, revolving around finalising the car set-up for Sunday's race and comparing the two types of Bridgestone tyre at our disposal. Michael and Felipe used one set of tyres each, accumulating a lot of valuable data which will now be studied by the engineers. I would say it's too early for a completely clear picture to have emerged and we will know more tomorrow.
Michael Schumacher: As usual on the first day here in Montreal, the track is very slippery and we in particular suffered with quite a significant loss of grip. We were not quick enough and we have to study the data to see how to improve. Obviously the gap separating us from our rivals today is a big one, but we know the situation can change rapidly. It's down to us to work hard as all the changes will be working in our favour.
Felipe Massa: It was quite a difficult day. Today I concentrated mainly on studying the behaviour of one of the two types of tyre Bridgestone has brought here for us. Track conditions and temperatures made life difficult, a bit similar to what happened in Monaco a month ago. Now we have to work out how to improve the situation, taking into account that the grip which was lacking today, should come good tomorrow bit by bit as the cars run on the track. But I am still confident for the rest of the weekend.
Ross Brawn: Today we did not manage to get the tyres operating at their best for various reasons. The track was still very dirty and temperatures were lower than we had expected. In a way we find ourselves back in the same situation we were in on the Thursday at the Monaco Grand Prix, especially as the type of tyre we have here is similar to the one we had in Monte Carlo. It should get hotter tomorrow and Sunday, the track will improve and, as a consequence, I expect our situation to improve. The cars had no particular problems today and there is no reason why we can't be optimistic.
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