05/10/2007
NEWS STORY
The AT&T Williams team had a methodical day of preparation ahead of tomorrow's qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The GP2 Rookie of the Year, Kazuki Nakajima, returned to Friday driving duties for the team this morning, posting a top ten practice time before Alex Wurz took up his preparations for the rest of the weekend alongside team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Nico Rosberg: It took me a few laps to get used to this track again, mainly because it felt very different from last year on our current tyres. Over the two sessions, we found some interesting results in terms of tyres and wing level. We tried a few other things and really made good progress with the set-up. We still need to improve for tomorrow, but all in all we had a positive day and I have a good outlook for tomorrow.
Alex Wurz: I only ran in the second session today and I started on used tyres to find my rhythm - which was not difficult, to be honest. However, the circuit conditions were quite strange today and I don't think the tyres were working properly yet. That said, it was the same for everyone, so we tried a few set-up changes in order to try and improve the car balance.
Kazuki Nakajima: It was the first time for me on this circuit and even though it's not an easy track, I enjoyed it. The first long corner is fun, and it is then followed by plenty of corners with high lateral loads that make the tyres work hard. The track was quite green and dirty to start with, but it was okay at the end and we had a consistent run. We tried a few things for set-up and completed the programme. In summary, we had a good session this morning and I got a lot of laps under my belt, which was good both for my experience and for the team. The lap times we set at the end of the morning were reasonable, so I am quite happy with my work today.
Patrick Head, Director of Engineering: We conducted a normal Friday programme with no mechanical problems and we are still working on how to generate performance from the tyres. Both tyres are very hard and so far we haven't been quicker on the option, but I am sure by tomorrow it will be the quicker tyre. We will be working hard to get the cars well prepared for qualifying tomorrow.
To check out our Shanghai practice gallery, click here