Williams duo say practice shunts were driver error
Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya had an accident-prone first day in Monaco as both Williams-BMW drivers ended Thursday's first free practice sessions in the Monte Carlo barriers
The pair finished third and 10th respectively and both admitted that the accidents had been down to driver error.
Schumacher Jr's time was bettered only by elder brother Michael's Ferrari and the McLaren-Mercedes of Mika Hakkinen, but despite his pace, Ralf admitted that the Grove-based team still had work to do.
"I'm quite happy," said Schumacher. "It went a lot better than I expected. I was lucky because we were able to work through everything we had to do, before the accident at the end of the second session. But the gap to the quickest cars is still too big which means we have a lot of work to do. The accident was my mistake. I was simply going too quick."
Montoya wound up 10th behind the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve after the day's two hour-long sessions. The Colombian, who said at the Austrian Grand Prix that the first day's running is key to a successful GP weekend, was not happy with the set-up on his FW22 around the Principality.
"The set-up of the car is still not very good," said Montoya. "We have some work to do. In terms of tyres, things seem okay and are getting better. My accident happened three-quarters of the way through the session. I lost the car on the brakes and put it into the barriers."
For free practice 2 results, click here.
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