2007 Canadian Grand Prix Free Practice Report
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
FP1: 21st 1:21.630 (25 laps)
FP2: 21st 1:19.662 (25 laps)
Christijan Albers (car 21, F8-VII/02):
FP1: 20th 1:21.251 (17 laps)
FP2: 20th 1:19.453 (38 laps)
Weather: Highs of 29 C ambient, 39 C track. Hot and humid
throughout the day.
The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team had a productive
opening day of the Canadian Grand Prix today. Christijan Albers
and Adrian Sutil completed a total of 55 and 50 laps respectively
over the two free practice sessions held today at the Circuit
Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, with a best time of 1:19.453
and 1:19.662.
Both drivers worked on the set-up of their F8-VIIs throughout
the day and evaluated the soft and supersoft tyre options
available over the weekend. In the morning's session Christijan
and Adrian initially struggled to find a balance on the dirty
track surface, but as the track cleaned in the afternoon,
both were able to improve their times by over two seconds
and finish just one second away from the top 12.
Preparations will continue for the 70-lap Canadian Grand
Prix tomorrow with a third and final free practice session
in advance of Qualifying in the afternoon.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
'It was a difficult day as the track was very dirty at the
beginning of the day and I had a lot of oversteer. It was
just in the last 20 minutes that we started to get a good
set-up and improve the balance and I could start to drive
with some more confidence and push. It was very difficult
to find the right set-up as conditions changed and the brake
set-up was different to all the other circuits I have driven
on. The softer tyre also started to grain very quickly but
in the end we found something that will help. We still have
some work to do tomorrow, when hopefully we will have a better
day.'
Christijan Albers (car 21)
'It was a hard day today, but it was good all the same. We
are getting closer with the set-up and I am getting more comfortable
in the car as we found something in the set-up. We will see
tomorrow for Qualifying, it's maybe too early to make predictions,
but hopefully we will continue along this line to get stronger
and stronger from now on.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'We had a reasonable day with both cars. The track conditions
in the morning session were quite difficult but as they improved
during the second session, the general balance of both cars
got better. We are still struggling with the rear tyres going
off, but towards the end of the day it became less of an issue.
Christijan is reasonably happy with his car and steadily improved
the balance throughout the session, but Adrian struggled slightly.
Both could have improved their times fairly significantly
but for a couple of mistakes on their last runs, but overall
we are fairly competitive with the group in front and hopefully
will be in the same or a better position than we were in Monaco.'
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