Friday team by team: Part 2

Giancarlo Fisichella was left pretty upbeat about the progress of his Sauber over Friday as he ended the day sixth overall, despite minor graining problems early in the day. Felipe Massa had his best lap ruined when Takuma Sato's engine blew up at the start of the second session and he wound up 12th.

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA: "We are going in the right direction, and the balance is getting better and better. We had a graining problem, but considering that this is the first day on a new track it is encouraging. I'm optimistic for a start in the first four or five rows tomorrow."

FELIPE MASSA: "The car is quite competitive, and though we were struggling a little with tyre graining that will improve when the circuit gets more rubber down tomorrow. It's a really nice track. Turn
One is very technical, the two quick corners are great fun and I can see some good overtaking opportunities."



Jaguar put its off-track troubles behind it to bring its lightweight R5B chassis into action. Christian Klien got to use the car and, although ending the day 20th, he was pretty pleased with the potential shown. Mark Webber was 16th, one place ahead of third driver Bjorn Wirdheim.

MARK WEBBER: "The R5 is feeling good around here and we have managed to collectively complete over 100 laps today, allowing me to complete my test programme successfully. My focus has been on tyre comparison and race set-up evaluation."

CHRISTIAN KLIEN: "I have been using our new chassis the R5B-06 today as part of our continued development programme. The car generally feels really good around here and I am having fun on this new track."

BJORN WIRDHEIM: "I enjoyed today and was pleased with my testing programme. I focused on engine and aero development, as well as mechanical balance and tyre comparisons. The team did a great job today as they made a lot of planned mechanical changes on my car."



Toyota admitted that it was surprised to be so competitive on the first day of practice following the generally disappointing form of its TF104B since it was introduced at the German Grand Prix. Ricardo Zonta, Olivier Panis and Ryan Briscoe were separated by just more than one hundredth of a second as they took ninth to 11th spots in practice.

RICARDO ZONTA: "The car looks quite encouraging here and we enjoyed a trouble-free day. We did well to set the car up and to put everything together over one lap. In terms of setting up the car, we have had to find a compromise because we have a long straight, as well as slower sections, but I think we have found the best solution for this."

OLIVIER PANIS: "What we did today is highly promising for the rest of the weekend. We still have some work to do, but I am still in a positive frame of mind. The circuit is fantastic, really.



RYAN BRISCOE: "It is a very interesting circuit and our TF104B car seems to be working very well. In the first session, I was fairly comfortable with the circuit early on and I was able to get straight on with our usual tyre programme. I had a lot of fun in both practice sessions and we appear to be in good shape for the weekend."



Jordan found similar graining problems to some other teams - caused mostly by the ultra tight first corner. Neither Nick Heidfeld nor Timo Glock believe they have got anywhere near the full potential of their cars as they ended up 18th and 22nd in the second session. New third driver Robert Doornbos acquitted himself well to stay out of trouble and end the day 24th after his running was cut short by an engine related problem.

NICK HEIDFELD: "The first corner is really special and very nice to drive, although it gave us a lot of graining understeer - especially in the beginning. We managed to improve the car but as it's a new circuit we will try many more things so we have a lot of work to do before tomorrow."

TIMO GLOCK: "In the first session I have problems with the car understeering and in my first outing I pushed too hard on the out lap. In the second session I lost some time because we had a hydraulic problem in the beginning and then at the end I was unlucky with traffic."

ROBERT DOORNBOS: "This morning my dream came true and I had a big smile on my face as I drove out of the pit-lane - it was an amazing feeling. I got to grips with the car quite quickly and I think I surprised a few people."



A relatively untroubled day for the Minardi trio on the technical front, but Bas Leinders got caught up in an on-track mix-up with Juan Pablo Montoya that left the pair exchanging glances during the second session and Gianmaria Bruni was blocked by Felipe Massa on his fastest lap. Zsolt Baumgartner ended the day 19th, ahead of 21st fastest Bruni and Leinders down in 23rd.

ZSOLT BAUMGARTNER: "We had a gearbox problem at the end of the morning but it was fixed between the sessions and we were able to complete our full Friday programme by the end of the second practice.

GIANMARIA BRUNIi: "Things didn't turn out as well as I had hoped today, but I am still quite happy. We made progress with the car and definitely went in the right direction with the chassis set-up. Unfortunately, Massa got in the way on what would have been my fastest lap of the afternoon and cost me maybe six or seven tenths of a second. In the end, I did my best time on the second lap of that run."

BAS LEINDERS: "It has been a bit of a difficult day. We were looking for a good chassis balance, but never quite found it. We tried a new direction in terms of set-up, and this proved promising. We're not there yet, but it is definitely the basis for making some interesting progress next year."