British Grand Prix - Free Practice Round-Up
WOODCOTE D'AZUR
Anyone coming to Friday's practice session for the British
Grand Prix hoping for the habitual grey skies and drizzle
will be disappointed to leave warm and dry tonight. It was
a tale of sun, Silverstone and sand traps - meaning only the
most determined nostalgia fans donned the traditional local
costume of cagoules and bobble hats. On the track, Panasonic
Toyota Racing began its preparations for Sunday's race with
two solid sessions of practice. The team has not tested at
Silverstone this year so drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno
Trulli had to work hard on tyre comparisons and set-up work.
They put in nearly 50 laps between them as they prepared for
the rest of the weekend around this glamorous, sun-soaked
Northamptonshire venue.
Jarno Trulli (Car 8, Chassis TF106/08B)
First Session Classification: 4th, 7 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m22.877s (+0.931s)
Second Session Classification: 5th, 17 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m22.437s (+1.355s)
"We probably had a bit more work today on set-up than
some of the other teams because we haven't done any testing
here at Silverstone this year. There was not much grip out
there and we tried different tyres in order to understand
which direction we should take. We still have a bit of work
to do on setting up my car but in general everything went
well. The new TF106B raced in Monaco and after our strong
Barcelona test last week this will be the first time we can
race it at a high speed circuit. What brings a smile to my
face is the weather. You never know what to expect here but
the sun suits us fine."
Ralf Schumacher (Car 7, Chassis TF106/07B)
First Session Classification: 17th, 2 laps completed
No lap time
Second Session Classification: 11th, 22 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m23.114s (+2.032s)
"It was slippery out there today which made life a bit
difficult for all the drivers and a lot of cars spun. At least
we managed to keep the car on the track and we made it through
our programme without problems. We still have a bit of work
to do on the set-up side but hopefully the grip will become
a bit better as the weekend progresses. The first time I tested
a Formula 1 car was here at Silverstone ten years ago. They've
changed the circuit since but I still enjoy racing here and
I like the track lay-out. We still have some work to do to
reach the level of performance we would like but we should
hope for a strong result here."
Dieter Gass - Chief Engineer Race and Test
"It's nice to be in England in such warm, sunny weather
and today was a solid day of practice for us. We had more
problems with grip than you would expect at Silverstone and
the drivers reported that it was difficult to find a balance.
So that made it a hard day's work, but we have made some adjustments
which helped solve the balance problem. We also went through
the tyre comparison without any major issues so we are in
reasonable shape for the rest of the weekend."
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