Difficult Friday practice for Toyota in Malaysia

Disappointed
By Huw Alban (21/03/03)
March 21 2003

After the pre-Grand Prix bravado, Toyota endured a difficult free practice session in Malaysia today. Both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta suffered setup problems that the team were unable to correct, which will probably lead to an equally difficult pre-qualifying.

"I am a bit disappointed with today. There were set-up problems on both cars, more so on Olivier's than Cristiano's, but we need to get the cars right," explained Chief Designer, Gustav Brunner, after the session today. "We have a little bit of set-up work to do. Today we had too much oversteer and too much jumping over the bumps, but we have one-and-a-half hours tomorrow to find a cure for this."

For the record Olivier Panis recorded the 12th fastest time, and Cristiano da Matta the 13th.

Full table of times from the 1st free practice in Malaysia:

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps Laps

1. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'36"102 207.642 Km/h 17
2. ALONSO Renault M 1'36"231 + 0'00"129 12
3. TRULLI Renault M 1'36"372 + 0'00"270 10
4. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'36"998 + 0'00"896 16
5. R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'37"045 + 0'00"943 18
6. BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'37"060 + 0'00"958 21
7. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'37"313 + 0'01"211 19
8. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'37"357 + 0'01"255 20
9. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'37"497 + 0'01"395 17
10. FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'37"847 + 0'01"745 17
11. FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'37"951 + 0'01"849 9
12. PANIS Toyota M 1'38"026 + 0'01"924 15
13. DA MATTA Toyota M 1'38"252 + 0'02"150 21
14. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'38"496 + 0'02"394 14
15. FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'38"516 + 0'02"414 13
16. PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'38"839 + 0'02"737 11
17. WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'38"870 + 0'02"768 3
18. VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'39"183 + 0'03"081 13
19. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'39"390 + 0'03"288 12
20. WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'40"201 + 0'04"099 11