Sauber Slow in Friday Practice
By Jamie Makin
August 13 2004
SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa finished 16th and 22nd respectively after today´s first practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Friday, Free Practice 1:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:24.198 | 12 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:25.218 | 20 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |
Friday, Free Practice 2:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:22.743 | 16 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:23.188 | 22 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |
It was a difficult return from the summer break for the SAUBER PETRONAS team today in Budapest. Despite bringing further aerodynamic upgrades for the C23 the team struggled to gain grip on the "green" racing surface. The Hungaroring requires a high downforce setup and tyres suited for hot and dusty conditions. Both drivers were slower than their main rivals and will have to work hard overnight on improving the car setup.
"Our main problem today was lack of grip," explained Technical Director Willy Rampf. "As a consequence, this was effecting the car balance quite a lot with understeer in the beginning moving to oversteer. Due to the layout of the track with many directional changes any handling problem is magnified. Our main area to improve the performance is therefore to find a more consistent balance."
During the summer break driver Giancarlo Fisichella announced his plans to drive for the Renault team next season. Despite the pending move, the Roman was still trying hard to set a good time today. Although the Sauber was clearly off the pace of its rivals, Fisichella easily outpaced his teammate Felipe Massa.
"Generally we lacked grip today. It was windy at times and the conditions were from lap to lap inconsistent, and understeer was our problem," Fisichella explained. "That's why I went off in Turn Four, I ran wide and then got on to the gravel. Luckily the car wasn't damaged. On long runs we weren't so bad, but we have some set-up work to do."
"It was not an easy day!" admitted Massa, who could only edge out the Minardis today. "The car was pretty loose both this morning and this afternoon, and I had a lot of understeer. That caught me out in Turn Four this afternoon, just like Giancarlo, but it's just the first day, and the track is still very green."
The team will work hard for better results in tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions. Like Monaco, qualifying position is vital for Sunday's race as overtaking at the Hungaroring is very difficult.