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2005 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix
What the teams and drivers said - Friday

Team and Driver Quotes following Friday Practice Sessions

(selected team quotes, for a full team and driver preview click on the team name)

McLaren Mercedes ( Juan Pablo Montoya - 1st, Kimi Raikkonen - 2nd, Pedro de la Rosa - 7th )

RON DENNIS
"A productive practice here at Indianapolis with our focus being on Michelin tyre evaluation. We had to change the planned programme slightly as Pedro's running in the first session was limited but in the second practice Pedro obtained valuable data which will certainly contribute to the performance of both Kimi and Juan Pablo for the rest of the weekend."

Full Team and Driver Practice Report  Back to Top

Ferrari ( Rubens Barrichello - 3rd, Michael Schumacher - 4th  )

Jean Todt: “We are happy to be here in Indianapolis and in the United States, which is our biggest market. Even if Formula 1 is not yet as big a draw as it is in other parts of the world, Ferrari is a very famous name here. Turning to the track now, it was the usual Friday. We worked on finding the best set-up, which requires a compromise between the section of the track on the oval and that on the infield, which is much slower. We also ran a comparison between the two types of tyre at our disposal. I have to say that, looking at the way things went today, we seem to have done a good job along with Bridgestone, in preparing for this weekend, at a track where we have always gone well.”

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Williams BMW ( Nick Heidfeld - 5th, Mark Webber - 13th )

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): We have had a good practice day today with the focus being on tyre evaluation and engine cooling. We did not experience any problems with brake cooling around here. It is the opposite type of track to the last GP. We have also tried different set- ups on the two cars to further our understanding. This might explain the difference in the lap times of our drivers. Tonight we will look at the best set-up and tyre for the race.

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Red Bull ( David Coulthard - 6th, Scott Speed - 8th, Christian Klien - 14th )

Christian Horner, Sporting Director:
“Scott was working on a comparison between two tyre compounds today and did an excellent job for the team, setting some good times. He finished in the top ten on only his fourth F1 practice session, which is a commendable effort and he’s obviously a promising talent coming through. It’s a good solid start to the weekend, especially with the new Cosworth Series 12 engine, which will hopefully show it’s true potential over the weekend.”

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Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 9th, Giancarlo Fisichella - 11th )

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering 
"The unusual nature of this circuit makes it very demanding for the tyres in a number of ways, and the type of tyre we run here is one with which we have less experience than those we use at more standard circuits. Friday practice is always about looking at the tyre choice, but that was the case even more than usual today, and we completed long distance running with high fuel loads to fully assess performance in representative race conditions. The programmes on both cars went quite smoothly, although we are not yet happy with the balance for either driver, but this is something we are confident can be addressed overnight."

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Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 10th, Ricardo Zonta - 19th, Ralf Schumacher - 24th )

Dieter Gass - Chief Race Engineer "So far what we can see is that both Ricardo's and Ralf's accidents came as a result of a tyre-related issue. On both occasions we had no early indication from the tyre pressure sensors so it was a fast deflation. We don't know the reason why at the moment, so we will now set about analysing the data to understand exactly what happened. Maybe there is a point on the track where we are running over and cutting our tyres, because it seems to occur on the outside tyre. We made sure that we had no problem on the car and that the suspension was okay. Then we talked to our partner Michelin and agreed that it would be safe enough to go out again. But we subsequently found a third cut tyre on Ricardo's car so we stopped running early. It all means that we are missing a lot of data for the weekend, but we must now analyse what is happening and carry on from there. Ralf's car is not as badly damaged as we feared and it looks like we can use the engine again tomorrow. But the main thin! g is that all our drivers are okay."

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Sauber ( Felipe Massa - 12th, Jacques Villeneuve - 17th )

Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "Today we did our usual Friday programme, making tyre comparisons with long and short runs and assessing the degree of degradation. The level of grip was not very good this morning, which is normal here, but that improved this afternoon so we had reasonable conditions in which to make our comparisons, and no technical problems to impede our schedule."

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BAR Honda ( Jenson Button - 15th, Takuma Sato - 16th )

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
"As is usual on Fridays we concentrated on tyre choice today and race set-up. It is very difficult to know where we are versus the competition during these free practice sessions since different teams run varied strategies. However our car was not handling very well this afternoon and hopefully we will improve the balance for tomorrow."

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Jordan ( Robert Doornbos - 18th, Narain Karthikeyan - 22nd, Tiago Monteiro - 23rd )

ADRIAN BURGESS, SPORTING DIRECTOR
“All three drivers got used to a new track here at Indianapolis without too much trouble. Besides, we are happy with the fuel load we have been carrying today. Now we have to sit down and make a careful decision about our tyre choice for the weekend and analyse the useful information we have been collecting to get more from the car and the rest of the package for tomorrow and Sunday. ”

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Minardi ( Patrick Friesacher - 20th, Christijan Albers - 21st )

PAUL STODDART, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

“Apart from a gearbox problem, which delayed Patrick in the second session, both Minardi drivers had a very productive opening day here at Indianapolis. It’s interesting to note that, despite the new regulations designed to reduce F1 speeds, both our cars exceeded, on the first day of the race weekend, any time, set in any session, by a Minardi here last year. As usual, both drivers gave their all today, and the team did a fantastic job to change Patrick’s gearbox in time for him to get back out before the end of the second session. All in all, a very pleasing effort.”

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Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager
“Our teams spent the sessions assessing both their specifications and certainly for Ferrari, it seems both types of tyres are performing well. Lap times are quite competitive and we have not suffered with any problems. The softer tyre gives a little better lap time but we need as usual to check the wear and blister results for all the tyres. I think the Bridgestone shod cars should run well this weekend but it is important to be vigilant here about tyre pressures.”

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Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director
“Irrespective of the various fuel loads teams have been running today, I am satisfied with the way our partners and us have performed. Michelin has achieved very good results with its two available tyre compounds, but it is too soon to know whether both will be used on Sunday.

“The track has evolved since this morning, as the F1 cars and Infiniti Pro Series runners have laid down more rubber, but parts of it remain extremely abrasive – particularly the recently- resurfaced banked section and pit straight, which are common to both the road course and the oval. Even so, I am confident our partners will be in good shape.

“As far as today’s on-track incidents are concerned, it is clear that two Toyotas have suffered of rear left problem. No cause as so far been definitely established and we are continuing our investigations. We are pleased to note neither driver suffered any major injuries. There were 17 Michelin cars on the circuit today and we did not have any widespread problems. Our engineers will continue to work very closely with those of Toyota while the matter is investigated.”

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