2007 Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice Report
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
FP1: 19th, 1:23.954 (25 laps)
FP2: 21st, 1:23.609 (33 laps)
Christijan Albers (car 21, F8-VII/02):
FP1: 22nd, 1:24.396 (25 laps)
FP2: 22nd, 1:23.736 (30 laps)
Weather: FP1: 23C ambient / 27C track, FP2:
26C ambient / 41C track. Cloudless skies, light breeze, decidedly
better than last week in Barcelona
Preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix got underway today
with two 90-minute free practice sessions. Etihad Aldar Spyker
Formula One Team race drivers Adrian Sutil and Christijan
Albers drove in both sessions, each completing 25 laps in
the first session and 33 and 30 respectively in the second.
In the last two races, the team has been at a disadvantage
by not participating in the scheduled pre-event tests, however
came to Spain with a strong base set-up developed in last
week's three-day test at the circuit. In two trouble-free
practice sessions, both drivers were happy with the balance
of their F8-VIIs and were able to focus on evaluating tyres
and set-up for Qualifying and Sunday¡¦s race.
Adrian and Christijan were evenly matched throughout the
sessions, recording times just over two seconds from the fastest
time of the day.
After a final practice session tomorrow morning, Qualifying
starts at 14:00 local time.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
"This was the first track I have been to this year with
prior experience, so I know every corner and feel very comfortable
as I don't need to spend time learning the circuit or getting
a basic set-up. The first session was OK, I was quite happy
with the balance, but the second session was a bit more difficult
than we expected. We tried out the softer tyre and normally
it makes a big difference, but this time we couldn¡¦t
seem to find that improvement in time as we hoped. We¡¦ll
just work on it for tomorrow but we are moving forward all
the time."
Christijan Albers (car 21)
"Even with the testing, it was not an easy day, but step
by step you see that we are going quicker compared to the
others. I've been working hard with Jody, my engineer, and
we saw some improvement today, but we know we have to work
to get a better result in Qualifying. The car is more stable,
we still have a couple of issues, but I think tomorrow we¡¦ll
be up there fighting with the others."
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
" It was a productive day. We didn't have any mechanical
problems on either car and worked on evaluating the two types
of tyre available this weekend. The balance of both cars was
pretty good and both drivers were reasonably happy; I think
we've benefited from having tested here before. The pace of
the car was better and we're now much closer to the pace of
the group in front, a trend we hope we¡'ll continue
throughout the weekend."
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