Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice Round-Up
KEEP IT ON THE ISLAND
Panasonic Toyota Racing began its preparations for Sunday's
Canadian Grand Prix under cloudy skies in Montreal today.
Formula 1 cars do not run on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
outside of the race weekend so grip is always hard to come
by on the first day. Sure enough, many cars went off the track
during the morning session before the track improved in the
afternoon. Toyota's race drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher
both carried out solid days of practice work around this island
in the St Lawrence Seaway. Jarno's second session ended early
when he suffered a gearbox problem as he went for a long run
but the two drivers still put in over 50 laps between them.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 7, Chassis TF106/07B)
First Session Classification: 12th, 6 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m20.861s (+3.471s)
Second Session Classification: 16th, 23 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m18.614s (+1.649s)
"This is not a permanent race track so it takes a lot
of running before the circuit rubbers in and grip was very
hard to find today. A lot of people struggled to stay on the
track, particularly in the morning session when the track
was at its greenest. The afternoon was better and we had a
good day overall, making it through everything that I had
planned. Brakes are critical here but we found no major problems
today so I'm looking forward to a good weekend."
Jarno Trulli (Car 8, Chassis TF106/08B)
First Session Classification: 17th, 7 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m24.029s (+7.639s)
Second Session Classification: 19th, 17 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m18.868s (+1.903s)
"We didn't learn as much as we would have liked today
because I had a gearbox problem at the end of the second session
and could not complete my last run. There was very little
grip out there but it did improve in the afternoon. This is
a hard circuit for the mechanical side of the car and reliability
always plays a very important role. We don't yet know how
competitive we will be but we made good preparations during
our test at Monza last week so we're looking forward to a
change of fortunes this weekend."
Dieter Gass – Chief Engineer Race and Test
"That was not a very easy day for us because it was a
struggle for grip, especially in the first session. On top
of that we had a gearbox problem at the beginning of Jarno's
long run. That means we are missing some data for our tyre
choice and it will be more difficult. It was a better day
for Ralf, who went through his programme without any issues.
He was happy with what he achieved. In the morning session
the track was still very green – as usual in Montreal
– and we saw a lot of cars cutting chicanes. But it
immediately improved in the second session, when all the relevant
work was done. We have a new front wing here in addition to
our Montreal aero package so we will push hard for a strong
result on Sunday."
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