Toyota transforms handling

In the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Toyota's drivers were lapped twice as they struggled with a gripless chassis. The car's performance was so bad that Toyota was prompted to call for a massive overhaul on the TF104 and technical director Mike Gascoyne announced that B-spec chassis is to be introduced for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"The level of grip was perhaps a little better than we expected, and it showed that the changes we have made since Melbourne have had a positive effect," said Gascoyne. "Overall, it was a good day with the cars well balanced and the gap to our competitors much reduced, highlighting the excellent and focused job that everyone in the team has done since Melbourne."

Panis was ecstatic with his day's running: "For me, it has been a highly positive Friday in Malaysia. Compared to the last race in Melbourne it feels like a different world!

"I am very impressed with the job the team has done to put new aerodynamic parts on the car and to make improvements at such an early stage of the season. The grip level has also improved as a result of the new aero parts and the good choice of tyres from Michelin. Now we have to continue to set up the car with the new parts we have, but things are looking quite positive for the weekend."

The team's test driver Ricardo Zonta was excellent throughout the day and ended the first session fourth fastest having traded times with BAR-Honda's Anthony Davidson for third throughout the hour. In the second session the Brazilian once again spent most of his time in the top ten, but was bumped to 13th in the dying
moments.

"I think the team and my crew worked extremely well and things appear to be going in the right direction," Zonta said. "I think we have found a good choice of Michelin tyre for this weekend. We tried both of the compounds and quickly found a fast, but consistent tyre.

"My lap time was also encouraging. With the last set, I was about 5-tenths quicker than my previous best lap, but then I hit traffic at the exit of turn 11 exit, which lost me time."