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Michelin drivers looked to
be in very good shape, monopolising eight of the top ten fastest times.
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest ahead of Jaguar's Eddie Irvine
in fourth. 2001 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth, Toyota's Mika
Salo was sixth, followed by Ralf Schumacher, Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa in
eighth, and the Renault pair of Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button.
Several drivers, including Ralf Schumacher, have ventured down the
circuit's numerous escape roads, but so far drivers are trying hard to
avoid running wide at the chicanes, where newly-installed sleeping
policemen threaten to damage any wayward cars. Jaguar has confirmed that
its recent strong testing form at the Milanese track was no fluke and has
run competitively all day.
There were problems for the remaining four Michelin drivers. McLaren's
David Coulthard was sixteenth after spinning off at the start of the
afternoon session. Allan McNish (Toyota) broke down at the end of the pit
lane and was only eighteenth.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director, responded to several
questions:
What can you tell us about the two dry-weather tyre compounds you are
using this weekend?
"In the end we opted to bring one that has already been used several times
during the season and is well known to us, while the other is completely
new and was selected after some encouraging test here last week. Both of
them seem well suited to the track and there is not much difference
between then in terms of lap time, although they differ a bit in terms of
consistency. From what we have seen so far I expect to see our harder,
primary (A) tyre being used more than the softer option (B). That might
change if conditions are not the same tomorrow, of course."
You were not fastest today but eight of your cars appeared in the top ten.
Were you surprised by anything in particular?
"Not really. I think today's result was pretty much what we expected and,
as always on a Friday, the times don't have any real significance because
you can't tell who has set a quick time with a reduced fuel load and you
don't know which teams have run with fairly full tanks all day."
Did the track evolve much during the first two sessions?
"Enormously. Last night's heavy rainstorm completed cleaned the track and
when we first ran this morning the asphalt was very abrasive. It became
much less so during the day as cars laid down an increasing amount of
rubber."
What track characteristics does a tyre company have to contend with at
Monza?
"Generally speaking it is not too abrasive so you don't require too hard a
compound. That said, the enormously high straight-line speeds demand a
fairly robust construction in order to limit the risk of potential
blistering." |
