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World championship leader
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) got the better of title rival Kimi Räikkönen
(Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin) during the opening qualifying session for
Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, but they had to settle for third and fifth
places respectively on a day dominated by Michelin and its partner teams.
Jarno Trulli (Renault/Michelin) set the pace on a warm but grey afternoon.
The Italian lapped just 0.062 seconds faster than Ralf Schumacher (BMW
WilliamsF1 Team/Michelin) to secure what should, weather permitting, be
the most favourable starting slot for tomorrow's final shoot-out. Trulli,
who was fastest on the opening day of the United States GP at Indianapolis
two weeks ago, was also quickest in this morning's free practice session.
Trulli and Schumacher Jnr headed a clutch of seven Michelin drivers in the
top 10. The German said : "Tomorrow's Free practice sessions will be very
important to us since we didn't have much running this morning due to some
problems and we need some more time to improve our car. However, I think
it is looking promising for us so far, also thanks to our Michelin tyres,
which seem to be very good and can provide an important contribution to
our performance."
David Coulthard (Team McLaren Mercedes) was fourth ahead of Räikkönen,
Fernando Alonso (Renault, sixth), Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team,
eighth) and Mark Webber (Jaguar, ninth). Montoya has shone at Suzuka in
the past but was unable to string together a particularly clean lap today.
Alonso had a spectacular spin at the end of this morning's free practice
session but did not damage his car significantly.
Olivier Panis (Toyota, 13th) was quickest of the remaining Michelin
runners, from Cristiano da Matta (Toyota, 14th) and Justin Wilson (Jaguar,
15th). Suzuka has been revised slightly since last year but remains one of
the most challenging tracks on the F1
calendar. Neither Wilson nor da Matta has raced here before.
The crowd is keeping a close eye on the progress of local favourite Takuma
Sato (BAR Honda, 11th). Sato will replace former world champion Jacques
Villeneuve at the Anglo-Japanese team in 2004. He has started work early,
however, because Villeneuve asked to be released from his contract almost
immediately once he learned he would not be retained. Sato qualified five
places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.
Michelin and its partner teams made a flying start to the final grand prix
meeting of the Formula One season, which takes place on Sunday at Suzuka,
Japan. Jarno Trulli (Renault) and Ralf Schumacher (BMW WilliamsF1 Team)
annexed the top two places in the opening qualifying session while David
Coulthard (West McLaren Mercedes, fourth) world title contender Kimi
Räikkönen (West McLaren Mercedes, fifth), Fernando Alonso (Renault,
sixth), Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, eighth) and Mark Webber
(Jaguar, ninth) also made the top 10.
Michelin's F1 programme manager Pascal Vasselon said: "We are pursuing two
world titles this weekend and it is good to see that several of our
partner teams and drivers are capable of giving Michael Schumacher and
Ferrari such a hard time."
SPEED AND DEPENDABILITY
Pascal Vasselon was encouraged by Michelin's performance on the opening
day at Suzuka.
He said: "Things have run extremely smoothly for us. Our tyres have been
quick and consistent in equal measure. We have taken a big step forward
since we raced here 12 months ago. We completed plenty of useful pre-race
preparation during this morning's test and free practice sessions. One of
our four available dry-weather tyres has emerged as a likely race choice,
but our final choice will depend on the track evolution tomorrow."
130 R: EASY FLAT
The track layout at Suzuka has altered this season. Pascal Vasselon said:
"In purely technical terms the modifications haven't caused us any
headaches. The biggest difference between this season and last is the
130R, the ultra-quick left-hander, can now easily be taken flat. That
certainly wasn't the case 12 months ago." |
