2006 Italian Grand Prix - Free Practice
Tiago Monteiro (POR) - Chassis: M16-03, Car #18
First Timed Session Classification: 6th, 1:25.413 (+2.150)
7 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 16th, 1:25.277 (+2.646)
12 laps completed
Quote: "I'd have to say it was a pretty productive day
from my point of view, and I think we're going in the right
direction. We didn't look out of place all day, and I think
we'll be even better as the weekend progresses. I was blocked
on my last lap of the afternoon on new tyres, so we couldn't
get a proper reference time. But considering the split times,
it would have been a pretty nice lap, so that gives us a good
measure of confidence heading into tomorrow."
Christijan Albers (NED) - Chassis: M16-02, Car #19
First Timed Session Classification: 8th, 1:25.766 (+2.503)
7 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 11th, 1:24.985 (+2.354)
11 laps completed
Quote: "I don't know how realistic the times were today,
because in practice, you can never be sure what the other
teams are doing. We just ran through our normal Friday programme
and we'll see where we stand tomorrow. But at least everything
is working well: the engine feels strong and there were no
mechanical issues to speak of. So, in that respect, it was
OK, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have some set-up
issues to sort out, and the car is still quite difficult to
drive. But, as usual, we will find a way to improve from today
to tomorrow, so I'm not overly concerned."
Giorgio Mondini (SUI) - Chassis: M16-01, T-Car
First Timed Session Classification: 12th, 1:28.444 (+5.181)
7 laps completed
Second Timed Session Classification: 21st, 1:25.586 (+2.955)
29 laps completed
Quote: "Today was not a good day for me, to say the least.
I encountered technical problems in the morning that reduced
my running time, and that pushed back our whole programme.
I was able to run later on, but not at 100%, so I really feel
that my times were not indicative of what we're capable of.
Hopefully, I was able to provide the engineers with enough
data to give Tiago and Christian a good chance in qualifying
tomorrow."
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "It
was a normal day's work for us. We had some problems with
Giorgio's car, but nothing too serious. Monza is not an ideal
circuit for our car, to be honest - we could use a bit more
top speed - but all of the drivers did a solid job, and we
are in a good position to prepare for qualifying."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer:
"As we expected, it was a quiet morning, followed by
a little more work in the afternoon. The circuit conditions
are not quite at the level we had at last week's test, but
we think we found a good baseline with the race drivers. Unfortunately,
Giorgio had a problem this morning, which was a bit of a one-off,
really. We fixed it as quickly as we could and tried to get
as much of his normal programme done as possible under the
circumstances. We'll build on what we've learned, fine-tuning
set-ups and such, and hopefully build on it tomorrow."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager: "We
went through a good, albeit condensed, programme that moved
us in a good direction for tomorrow. The guys think the balance
can be improved even further, which is positive, actually,
because it gives them something to work on tonight. The fact
that Christijan was 11th today is also encouraging, because
we feel that we can improve that little bit more in qualifying."
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