Struggling Toyota Rue Lack of Wet Testing

The Toyota team struggled during a very wet Friday practice for the British Grand Prix, with Scot driver Allan McNish finishing at the bottom of the timesheets as teammate Mika Salo was forced to sit out the session due to stomach problems.

"It was a pity that Mika could do no running today but the team doctor explained that it is better for him to rest today in order to be fully fit for practice and qualifying tomorrow," said Ange Pasquali, Toyota's team manager, at the end of the day.

"Unfortunately we could only run with one car today and we struggled in the wet conditions. It is a similar difficulty to the one we had in Imola and we have not had enough wet testing since then to find a cure."

Scot McNish, competing at his home Grand Prix for the first time, finished more than seven seconds off Rubens Barrichello's pace. The rookie claimed he was unhappy with his car's handling.

"We struggled quite badly today with general grip and balance of the car," said McNish after the session. "In the first session I had understeer. Latterly towards the end of the second session we improved that but then gained oversteer.

"The circuit conditions were changing a tremendous amount, and it was a case of being out on the right tyre at the right time in the drier conditions."