24/05/2012
NEWS STORY
Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher completed the opening two practice sessions around the streets of Monte Carlo today in preparation for the 70th Monaco Grand Prix, Round Six of the 2012 World Championship.
The team completed a total of 58 laps today during the combined three hours of practice running. The technical programme focused on basic set-up work and driver familiarisation with the unique circuit. Neither driver completed a run on the super soft Pirelli tyres today owing to the rain during the afternoon session.
Nico Rosberg: "It was great to be back again and to race through the city. I'm pleased with today's practice sessions. We have the feeling that we are going in the right direction with our set-up work for this demanding track. It took a bit of a time to find the right rhythm for the circuit but it worked out well, even though we did not run very much in the afternoon because of the bad weather. I'm now really looking forward to Saturday and Sunday."
Michael Schumacher: "It's always great to get out on the track for the first laps in Monaco and get back into the rhythm of this special place. Already, during practice this morning I could see the areas where the safety has been improved further since last year, and it's great that the organisers always push to make things even better every year. The weather was mixed today, which made it hard to make any firm conclusions, but basically my feeling with the car on this circuit was positive."
Ross Brawn: "We've had a reasonable first day here in Monaco. Obviously, this is a track where conditions are changing all the time and the wet weather in the second session this afternoon reminds us that these things can happen here. We have a lot of information to look at and work out what we're going to do and how we think the circuit will evolve for Saturday. Generally, it's been a good start to the weekend."
Norbert Haug: "Today's sessions were effectively brought to an early end in the morning after an engine failure on the track, then we had rain in the second half of the afternoon session. Considering these circumstances, which handicapped the progress of all the teams, we had quite a positive first day and found a reasonable baseline for our cars from which we can progress further on Saturday. With everybody completing fewer laps than usual during the first practice day in Monaco, the challenge of this demanding race is probably even higher this year. We now are looking forward to Saturday when our target is to make a good step forward to be in a position for good results in the race on Sunday.
Understandably, we have been asked frequently about the status of our Concorde Agreement negotiations in the past days. On this matter, I can confirm we are having constructive discussions that are heading in the right direction."
Check out our Thursday gallery, here.