06 May: Spanish Grand Prix - Friday Practice Report - McLaren Mercedes
West McLaren Mercedes driver Pedro de la Rosa emerged fastest overall from both of today's practice sessions with times of
1:15.675 and 1:15.062, providing the team with a good basis for the rest of the weekend. Kimi Raikkonen ended up fifth in the first
session (1:17.851) and fourth in the second (1:16.586). Juan Pablo Montoya who made his Formula One comeback finished tenth in both
sessions (1:18.402 and 1:17.555). However on his last flying lap the Colombian went off the track at Turn Nine but was OK. The car
incurred damage to the right hand side (suspension, radiator, bodywork) and both front and rear wings which will be repaired in time
for tomorrow's sessions.
Kimi Raikkonen "A trouble free day for me and a good start to the weekend. The car
set-up is still not perfect but we have tomorrow's practice to improve the package even further. The track keeps changing which
provide a real challenge for all the teams but all in all a positive day and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
Juan
Pablo Montoya "It's nice to be back at the wheel of the MP4-20. However the first time I have a shunt whilst driving for
this team had to happen today and I'm sorry for the guys who have to repair the damage overnight. I don't know what happened but I
just lost it. I went to see the FIA Medical Delegate afterwards and he said I was absolutely fine. My shoulder has been coping well
and until the last lap everything had been going according to plan. I'm excited about the rest of the weekend and hopefully we will
put on a good show."
Pedro de la Rosa "I'm quite happy with our performance today but there is definitely
more to come. It's always good to be quick and know that the car is still not perfect. I'm confident the team will have a strong
weekend. It's nice to be able to perform in front of my home crowd and I will continue to work with the team to ensure we get the
maximum potential out of Kimi's and Juan Pablo's cars."
Ron Dennis "Today's challenge was to adopt the
cars to the ever changing track conditions which of course made tyre choice and set-up work even more difficult. All three cars ran
trouble free with the lap times purely showing variation in fuel loads and tyre conditions. Kimi had an encouraging day whilst Juan
Pablo's mistake in his last run means that the team has a little more work to do now than planned. Pedro put in another disciplined
and constructive performance and we are looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
Norbert Haug "A
positive start to the weekend where we showed good overall speed. We are pleased that Juan Pablo is back and that he is OK following
his off which was caused by him pushing a bit too hard. We completed our planned programme without any problems focusing on long
runs, Michelin tyre evaluation and set up for the rest of the weekend."
