Toyota Duo Upbeat on Chances
Toyota are confident that they are back to form after their disappointing showing in the San Marino Grand Prix - even though they admit that their hopes this weekend will likely rest on making the right choice on tyres overnight
Although some teams believe their choice of compounds is fairly straightforward for the weekend, Toyota believe that there is not much difference between their two options because the TF105 seems happy on both - which means getting the right option is much more difficult.
Despite that drama, however, both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were pretty pleased with the team's overall performance on the first day of practice, as they ended up fifth and eighth fastest respectively.
"It was a positive day for me," said Trulli. "It was really a normal Friday but we had to do less set-up work than usual because we test here so often. This year's new track surface means we still have some things to learn about the track so we spent the day looking at tyre comparisons.
"Now the car is not far from where it should be and it's up to us to make the tyre decision based on the data. Then we can look to add to our haul of points from the year."
Schumacher added: "I spent the day working on general set-up. The car went pretty well and we found more grip with the changes we made as the session went on. Now we have to look at the tyre choice.
"The Circuit de Catalunya has changed a lot since we last raced here because of the new tarmac. It's very smooth so you have to work hard to get heat into the tyres, so it could still be a tough race for tyres. If we can beat that challenge we can look for another strong finish."
Toyota's third driver Ricardo Zonta managed to set the second fastest time overall in second practice, having been forced to sit out most of the first session with an hydraulic problem.
"Unfortunately I lost most of my morning's running after I suffered a hydraulic problem in the morning session so I had to try and catch up on my programme in the afternoon," he said.
"The new smoother track surface here at Barcelona meant that there was not much grip early on in the morning session, but the conditions improved as the day went on. That should continue during the weekend, particularly if it stays hot and sunny."
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