Williams Car Not Suited for Silverstone

Williams were pleased with Friday's trouble-free practice sessions for the British Grand Prix but the Grove-based outfit admitted that their set-up does not work well on the Silverstone track.

Both Williams drivers were uncharacteristically lower down the timesheets, but they were confident things will improve over the weekend. Ralf Schumacher managed eighth position in the session as rain fell late in the day to make tyre choice difficult for the Michelin-shod team.

"As we already knew from the test, Silverstone is a difficult track for us," said Schumacher. "We have a lack of grip and it is just that the combination of tyres and chassis that are not as compatible as at other circuits, but we will work hard to improve for tomorrow. Apart from that we had no technical problems."

Juan Pablo Montoya was less fortunate as he finished 17th and was left hoping that Saturday's qualifying will not be blighted by more rain, making the tyre choice all the more important.

"It was a pretty good day though we struggled in the morning a lot with the setup," said Montoya. "PM was pretty good, though we put the new tyres on a bit late and it started to drizzle so we couldn't really get a lap on them. I think for the race we should be quite competitive.

"I don't think it is a weekend when we are looking to win, but we seem to surprise ourselves sometimes on Saturdays. We will see. Let's hope it stays dry as with the wet weather it is going to make life a bit more difficult and it may be a bit of a lottery for the race."