Friday team by team: Part 2

Sauber has had its fair share of problems this year getting the most out of its Bridgestone tyres over one lap, but the Japanese company's superiority in the wet helped no end in Friday practice. Giancarlo Fisichella was mighty to head the challenge to Michael Schumacher as he ended up second fastest, while Felipe Massa would have been quick if he could keep the car on the road. He hit the barriers in the first session and spun in the second.

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA: "The whole package - car, engine, Bridgestone tyres - is really good, and I was consistently able to run second all day to Michael. The track conditions were very bad, with several rivers running across the circuit and a lot of standing water all round the lap. It was an easy day to make mistakes, but for me it was also important to be quick and to push. I'm very pleased with the way things went, and I think we are in good shape."

FELIPE MASSA: "I spun in this morning's session, and again this afternoon, and both times it was because of aquaplaning. When I went out this afternoon it began raining very heavily at the start of the lap so I had already decided to come back in and was going relatively slowly, and even so I spun at the top of the hill after the Esses when the car just got away from me on standing water. An unlucky day for me."



A frustrating day for the Milton Keynes-based team as the weather hampered any serious running - although at the least drivers managed to stay on the track throughout the day. Webber, running the R5b-06 for the first time, spent the day focusing on tyre and balance evaluation, to end up 15th, while Christian Klien was allowed time to learn the circuit and he ended up 17th. Bjorn Wirdheim did not run because of restrictions over the number of extreme weather tyres the team has.

MARK WEBBER: "Today has not been as productive as we would have liked, but the weather conditions have been so bad that we had no choice but to curtail our programme. This circuit can be quite difficult in the rain as there are many rivers that appear on track and this can cause aquaplaning. We did what we could today and I tried to test my new chassis. However, given the amount of water on the track we have not really had an opportunity to learn anything and so I will be using my usual race chassis on Sunday. It's frustrating for all of us to have prepared so much for this weekend and then to be limited to so little running on track. The weather forecast is not looking good for tomorrow either so we will just have to make the most of any running that we can".

CHRISTIAN KLIEN: "It's been a really wet day here at Suzuka and we have been badly affected by the rain. The conditions have meant that we have only managed a small amount of running on track and this has not helped me familiarise myself with the layout as much as I would have liked. The track does seem like good fun though and it reminds me of the Spa layout. It seems quite challenging and given the number of rivers running through it at the moment, also quite difficult! There is a typhoon due to hit Suzuka tomorrow so I am not too sure what it going to happen to qualifying."

BJORN WIRDHEIM: "We have a limited number of wet tyres with us this weekend and I have been trying to help the team today by not running. Usually I am doing the opposite and trying to do as many laps as possible but given the really wet conditions that we are experiencing it is important for Mark and Christian to have as many spare extreme wet-tyres for the race as possible."



Like all the other teams Toyota was left frustrated by the weather conditions, but you could not help but feel sorry for third driver Ryan Briscoe who had flown all the way to Japan but did not get to drive the car at all. The team's restricted number of Michelin extreme weather tyres meant they had to be saved for Jarno Trulli and Olivier Panis - forcing Briscoe to watch from the pits. Panis only completed two installation laps, while Trulli was 14th quickest in both sessions as he did a total of 17 laps to try and get more understanding of the TF104B car.

JARNO TRULLI: "It was a difficult debut for me today, although I think we can be pleased to have done some meaningful running in tough conditions. I have never driven the TF104B in the wet, so it was useful to get some experience. On the other hand, I took it comparatively easy today because the conditions were very dangerous and I didn't want to spin or go off the track and damage the car. The positive thing is that we have done some laps and gained some beneficial experience for the rest of the weekend, which at the moment looks like it could be quite tricky with the weather."

OLIVIER PANIS: "The huge amount of rain made it very difficult today. In the first session, I completed an installation lap and wanted to wait to see what everyone else was doing. When we saw there was no improvement, we opted to stay in the garage, as we would not achieve any decent set-up work in such conditions. It made sense for Jarno to do some running, but not for me because I already know the behaviour of the car quite well in the wet. In the second session, we had the same situation, so we just did a launch and pit stop practice to be sure that everything worked on the electronics side. The track was so wet, I felt that I was driving a boat, rather than an F1 car, but at least we could complete a lap to check that there was nothing wrong."

RYAN BRISCOE: "Due to the restriction of extreme wet weather tyres, I was unable to do any running today. The conditions were simply too bad to even consider going out on intermediate tyres. I am disappointed that I couldn't have the chance to drive at the Suzuka circuit and not to participate in Toyota's home grand prix weekend."



Jordan enjoyed an all-too rare day at the sharp end of the timesheets on Friday as the superiority of its Bridgestone wet weather tyres allowed Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld to really show off their talent. Glock bounced back from two spins to set the sixth fastest time on his first visit to the Suzuka circuit, while Nick Heidfeld was fifth in first practice and just behind his team-mate in the second. Third driver Robert Doornbos did not have the right set-up during the quickest part of the second session and after being ninth overall in the morning, he was 16th second time out.

TIMO GLOCK: "It didn't go too badly today given the extremely rainy conditions. It was a bit difficult for me to start with as I don't know the circuit and it's hard to learn it in the rain. But after a few laps it was okay; I found a good rhythm in the wet and the car was not feeling too bad. At the end I was quite happy with both sessions although the rain got so heavy we had to stop before the session finished. The car was quite good in these conditions so I hope we have a wet qualifying and race!"

NICK HEIDFELD: "It was quite a satisfying day today looking at our positions. Obviously it was very difficult for everybody with these weather conditions and the forecast for tomorrow looks even worse. We did a few outings but stopped before the end because it simply got too wet and we would not have been able to assess the changes correctly."

ROBERT DOORNBOS: "I think it went great as it was my first time ever driving a Formula One car in the wet and I had to learn the circuit as well. If I compare how to drive F1 in the rain with F3000, the difference is unbelievable. The Bridgestone tyres gave an amazing amount of grip. I really enjoyed it and found the pace right away. I did a good job and I'm looking forward to more laps in Brazil."



A fairly straightforward day for test driver Bas Leinders and Gianmaria Bruni, but Zsolt Baumgartner was in the wars after he spun off at the Esses during the wettest part of practice and parked his car in the gravel. Leinders was actually quickest of all three men, setting the 18th fastest time, with Gianmaria Bruni 19th and Zsolt Baumgartner 21st.

BAS LEINDERS: "This was my very first experience of driving in the wet with an F1 car as well as my first time driving on the Suzuka Circuit, and I am very pleased with what I discovered. The car seems to have quite a lot of grip in the wet, and I really enjoy driving in the rain anyway. I'm not at the limit of the car yet - I would need more mileage to arrive at that point - but it has been a good start to building my knowledge of driving in the wet in Formula One."

GIANMARIA BRUNI: "It was not a very good day, as I didn't have the possibility to drive enough. I did just one proper run, but the balance in the wet was quite good, as my lap times show. Now we can only see what tomorrow holds."

ZSOLT BAUMGARTNER: "The weather situation today was a bit unfortunate in terms of having an opportunity to learn the track. Generally, the car balance was good, but we were struggling with the huge amount of water on the track. In fact, when I spun during the second session, it had started to rain even harder and the conditions were pretty much impossible."