2006 German Grand Prix - Free Practice
Tiago Monteiro (POR)
Chassis: M16-03, Car #18
First Timed Session Classification: 17th, 1:20.575 (+4.226)
7 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 23rd, 1:18.991 (+2.766)
11 laps completed
Quote: "It was a bit of a disappointing
day, as we didn't get as much running as we would have liked.
We were delayed in the second session by the rain, but also
with some problems on the car we had to sort out. We had a
lot planned for today, and it's a shame we weren't able to
run through the whole programme. The positive thing is that
we're not fighting with a hundred different problems; we're
only struggling with one problem, which is understeer, so
it's easier to deal with. And given the fact that we only
ran on one set of tyres all day, the times aren't too bad.
I would have like to have tried a few more things, but that's
the way it is. At least we have a good idea of how to address
the problem tomorrow, so hopefully we'll solve it in morning
practice and have a good qualifying session."
Christijan Albers (NED)
Chassis: M16-02, Car #19
First Timed Session Classification: 16th, 1:20.132 (+3.783)
5 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 22nd, 1:18.643 (+2.418)
11 laps completed
Quote: "It was a bad day for me, to
be honest. My engine blew up in the morning, which limited
my running and got me a ten-position grid penalty, so that's
insult on top of injury. Then, in the afternoon, our session
was shortened by rain and I was held up by traffic when I
did finally go out. But hey, tomorrow is a new day. I'm thankful
to have a lot of fans here supporting me and I will do my
best to give them a good performance."
Markus Winkelhock (GER)
Chassis: M16-04, T-Car
First Timed Session Classification: 11th, 1:18.964 (+2.615)
27 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 14th, 1:17.962 (+1.737)
20 laps completed
Quote: "It was a good day, from my point
of view. We lost a little bit of time at the beginning of
the second session because the weather didn't suit the programme
we had, but by the end of it I managed to test two sets of
tyres, so it wasn't too bad. On the first set, I made a mistake
- I missed a gear twice on one lap - so I lost a lot of time.
But with the second set of tyres, I didn't have that problem,
and I was able to drive quite a good lap. It's great that
I was able to put in a good time - any time you can finish
ahead of Alonso, it's OK! But you never know what kind of
programmes the other teams are running. The most important
thing is that I was able to help the team choose the correct
tyres for qualifying tomorrow and the race, so I'm happy with
the job I did today."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager:
"It was one of those horrible sessions with poor weather
at the beginning of it, so it reduced a little bit of the
running and sort of greened up the track again. But I think
Markus did a good job for us as he went through the tyre programme,
and on the limited running he was able to give us a lot of
feedback. Christijan and Tiago did a good job as well, just
going through their respective programmes. Listening to them,
they seem to have a good idea about what needs to be changed
for tomorrow, so I think that ultimately, it was a positive
day."
James Key, Technical Director: "We
had a reasonably productive morning, I would say. Markus did
a good job with the car, especially considering it's been
some time since he'd last driven it. But he got back into
the groove fairly quickly and continued to improve all morning.
This afternoon was obviously complicated by the wet start,
which kind of halved the time we had to get going and run
through our intended programme. Christijan had his engine
issue in the first session, so he only really got half a session
today, which is a shame. But we ran quite a few new parts
on the car and learned a bit about them, so we know what we're
going to be able to carry through to tomorrow. We also have
a good direction with respect to tyres, thanks to Markus'
feedback. Another positive area is the main aero upgrades
tested on the T-car last week and brought here seem to be
fine and we're going to have them on both race cars tomorrow."
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