21/10/2006
NEWS STORY
Honda test driver Anthony Davidson was fastest Michelin driver on the opening day of this year's world championship finale, the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. The Englishman lapped in 1m 12.653s during the afternoon session to be second fastest on aggregate.
Seven Michelin drivers from four partner teams featured in today's top 12. Sebastian Vettel (BMW Sauber) was third ahead of Jenson Button (Honda, fifth), Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes, seventh), world championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault, 10th), Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren Mercedes, 11th) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault, 12th). Alonso will secure this year's title if he finishes in the top eight on Sunday.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin F1 director: "Times were very close today and we expect that to be the case throughout the weekend. The track was a little bit damp this morning and has since evolved significantly. That being the case, it took time for us to make detailed assessments of the 10 different products we are running here at Interlagos.
"There are significant differences in tyre specification from team to team, mostly in terms of sidewall stiffness. We need to do a bit of work to improve first-lap pace in one or two cases, but for most partners that hasn't been a problem and we are demonstrating our customary speed and consistency over longer stints.
"It is clearly going to be a tense weekend, with the world title at stake, but this has been a positive start and we're looking forward to the next two days."
To check out our Brazil practice gallery, click here