Kimi pegs back Schumacher
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen stayed typically cool following his stellar lap that topped the opening day's free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend
Raikkonen lapped his MP4-19B in 1m44.701s, a second quicker than Michael Schumacher's 2002 pole time despite a much tighter Bus Stop chicane.
"I feel that it has gone well today," said Kimi. "I wasn't completely happy with the car this morning, but the team worked on it, and it was much improved this afternoon. We have completed our tyre evaluation programme, and we are happy with how the tyres are working. However, it is always very difficult to judge how things will go for the rest of the weekend as a lot will depend on the weather, but we feel that the car will perform well on this track."
Team-mate David Coulthard was sixth fastest, but not so happy with his lot: "Not the perfect start for the weekend for me, but the session went without incident for the team, and we managed to achieve all our evaluations. It is great to be back in Spa, and I am looking forward to challenging on the track again tomorrow."
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