23/06/2006
NEWS STORY
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya finished today's second free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix in fourth and 17th position respectively. Kimi completed 10 laps and set a best time of 1:17.490 whilst Juan Pablo did 14 laps with a fastest time of 1:18.761. In order to conserve engines and tyres Kimi and Juan Pablo didn't take part in the first session this morning.
Kimi Raikkonen: "A good start to the weekend and everything went well. It's too early to say where we are compared to the competition, but the car was working well immediately which is always positive and we can still make improvements. I have a new engine in the car this weekend. We spent the session evaluating our Michelin tyres and did some general set-up work. As brakes are crucial at this track they were also included in our programme. I like this circuit and look forward to the rest of the weekend."
Juan Pablo Montoya: "We obtained some useful data which will help us make a decision regarding tyres. Kimi and I were evaluating different compounds and we now need to look at all the options – bearing in mind that it might be a bit hotter tomorrow. The track is not too dusty, but the grip level seems really low so I was struggling a bit. However we will now work with the engineers on making our Michelin tyre choice and see what happens tomorrow."
Ron Dennis: "A positive start to our Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Kimi and Juan Pablo were evaluating different Michelin tyre options and we will now look at the data to make the appropriate choice."
Norbert Haug: "A good practice session which saw us evaluating our race set up. We completed our planned programme and it seems that we found a good basis for tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race."
To check out our Canada practice picture gallery, click here