2007 Italian Grand Prix Free Practice Report
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
FP1: 19th 1:25.130 (24 laps)
FP2: 19th 1:25.531 (24 laps)
Sakon Yamamoto (car 21, F8-VII/04):
FP1: 21st 1:25.448 (25 laps)
FP2: 21st 1:25.863 (40 laps)
Weather: 19 C ambient / 28 C track in the morning, 27 C /
38 C in the afternoon. Clear skies and sunshine.
The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team's new B-spec car
made its competitive track debut today at the Autodromo di
Monza, Italy, one of the most atmospheric and historic tracks
on the Formula One calendar.
After a successful test last week at the same circuit, the
team again had a productive day as Adrian Sutil and Sakon
Yamamoto put the car through its paces. Crucially, the pair
demonstrated its improved pace, with Adrian's best time of
the day just over one second off the top ten.
In the hotter, slower afternoon session, neither driver bettered
their times, instead focussing on gathering further data on
the new car, tyre comparisons and set-up for both Qualifying
and the race.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
'We had a big programme we wanted to try today, but unfortunately
we had a gearbox problem early on in the second session, which
meant we had to cut short the schedule. We were at least able
to do a long run on the softer tyre though, which was quite
good. I think this morning was in general a bit better as
the air was so hot in the afternoon we lost some straightline
speed and couldn't improve on our time from the morning. I
think there is still a lot more to come from the car though
as I am not so happy over the kerbs, it's very snappy there.
If we work overnight we should find some more time.''
Sakon Yamamoto (car 21)
'Today was our first day using the B-spec over a race weekend
after the test last week and we really followed on from our
programme there. I completed our normal progress steps today,
trying both the soft and hard tyre, set-ups for Qualifying
and the race and importantly put lots of mileage in and did
some good preparation for tomorrow.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'Generally a very productive day with the new spec car. We
had a problem with the gearbox on Adrian's car in the second
session that delayed him slightly, but overall we had no real
mechanical issues. From a performance point of view we are
certainly very competitive with the group in front of us and
are learning all the time about the new car. I think there
is more to come.'
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