06 May: Spanish Grand Prix - Friday Practice Report - Sauber
Weather: sunny and warm.
Drivers (Chassis) Villeneuve (C24-04) Massa (C24-06) Spare car (C24-03)
SAUBER
PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve finished 12th and 14th respectively after today's first practice sessions for
the Spanish Grand Prix.
Jacques Villeneuve: "I'm pretty happy today. I was worried initially because we didn't
have a very good test here recently, but it turned out not so bad. The balance wasn't great this morning but it was better this
afternoon. It's not yet as good as Imola, but Felipe and I were working on different programmes so I'm sure that will improve
tomorrow. The new surface here is very strange. It doesn't feel like any other asphalt that we race on. It's more like when you go
indoor karting on concrete, so it gives you a weird feeling in the car. But it's the same for everyone."
Felipe Massa: "I
was very unhappy with the set-up of the car this morning. The balance was bad and it felt really nervous in the high-speed corners.
We made a few changes for this afternoon and the car was transformed. It was quick right away, consistent and nice to drive again. I
think we have a reasonable set-up now, so it was not a bad day after all. I'm feeling quietly optimistic."
Peter
Sauber (Team Principal): "I think Spain is a great country and Barcelona is a very nice city, and it looks as if the
track was reciprocating those feelings as the day progressed. We worked on different set-ups and tyre programmes and I feel that
this afternoon we were able to reach a good set-up baseline for tomorrow."
