Good start for McLaren

"A good and enjoyable session and quite a good start to the weekend," he said. "We evaluated our tyres and worked on finding the right balance. At this track it's particularly important to have a stable car as it allows you to attack more. We still have work to do and I believe we can get more out of the package. We will now wait and see what happens tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to qualify at the sharp end."

Kimi Raikkonen scored his best result of 2001 in last year's Canadian GP and the Finn looked good as he pushed his McLaren over the kerbs, however, he admits that he still has some learning to do before he can extract the best from the car.

"I like the modifications which have been made to the track," he said. "It's only the second time I have been here and I feel that I'm still learning and believe there is more to come as I become increasingly familiar with the circuit."