19 August: Turkish Grand Prix - Friday Practice Report - McLaren Mercedes
Team McLaren Mercedes Third driver Pedro de la Rosa emerged second fastest from today's two practice sessions for Sunday's
Turkish Grand Prix with a time of 1:26.196. Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen ended up third and fourth respectively with times
of 1:26.525 and 1:27.274. Pedro did 33 laps, Juan Pablo 17 and Kimi 18.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA "It seems like the
new track is pretty good, and they have done a very good job in creating such a venue. The car and our Michelin tyres are working
well, but we all have to expect a hard race on Sunday. Michelin have brought a very good and consistent tyre for this event which is
a definite advantage for us. We will keep on working tomorrow morning on making further improvements, and I look forward to the rest
of the weekend."
KIMI RAIKKONEN "The new track is quite interesting and my first impressions are positive.
The guys back at base have done a lot of work preparing for this weekend and as a result we seem to have arrived with a good basis.
It's still possible to improve the balance even more but so far so good. It was a bit slippery out there particularly as there was a
little bit of rain which seemed to affect the grip levels a lot. Let's see what happens tomorrow, but I think we are in good
shape."
PEDRO DE LA ROSA "Despite the fuel pick up problem this morning we were able to complete our
planned programme. On this demanding track it's not easy to find the right set-up and consequently it took some time. I hope that I
have made a good start for my team mates to continue working from. Our Michelin tyres are working well here and the circuit is
suiting the car."
RON DENNIS "A productive first day here in Turkey. We completed our scheduled programme
and are happy with the data we have obtained so far from this impressive but demanding new circuit. The work we have done back home
preparing for this track has allowed us to arrive well prepared."
NORBERT HAUG "This new circuit is a
perfect addition to Formula One's challenges on 19 different racetracks during the course of the 2005 season. The layout of the
Istanbul facilities is really demanding for both teams and drivers, and it will be interesting to see who will develop their package
best for the race on Sunday. Based on what we saw today it is difficult to tell who has done the best job so far. As for the team
Kimi, Juan Pablo and Pedro went through their planned programmes and we believe to have worked out a good baseline for tomorrow's
qualifying and Sunday's race. It will be a challenging one."
