Selected Quotes following Friday practice
(rank shown based on 2nd Friday practice session)
Alex Wurz (Fastest - Williams test driver)
This morning it was quite slippery and very dusty, resulting in low grip levels, but the circuit conditions improved and changed rapidly throughout the whole two sessions, which makes the setup work quite difficult. Nevertheless, the more rubber went down, the better our package
functioned, so I think that will play into our hands. I was pleased with my performance, especially with the first lap of the long runs, where I was really quick, and in the end I was the fastest overall!
With regard to tyres, I am happy with the choice we have brought here from testing, but the better the choice to bring to the race weekend, the more difficult it is now to choose between the two compounds ? it will be a very tight decision.
Fernando Alonso (2nd)
We had our normal Friday: systems checks in the morning, then some runs to get a feel for the tyres and try and improve the balance. The grip level was very low, as is quite usual for a Friday. That makes the car a bit inconsistent to drive but we will make some changes tonight and, as the circuit grip improves tomorrow, I am sure things will come together. The pace looks quite good but the times are very close, and we need to do more running to get a clearer picture of who our rivals will be.
Michael Schumacher (3rd)
We had a good day and I am reasonably happy with the car. We are more or less where we expected to be. Looking at the times, the situation seems quite good. I opted for just one type of tyre for this first day of free practice, working only on this and the choice seemed to be the best one. Our main rivals also seem very strong, so I think it will be a very close fight. We are confident and from what we have seen, we are also competitive here. If we can put all the pieces of the jigsaw together then we can fight for the win.
Robert Doornbos (4th - Red Bull test driver)
I raced on this track in Formula 3 and F3000 and in both series had a podium finish. I was with Christian Horner's team when I raced in F3000 and almost won the race, until the last couple of laps. I eventually came second. I haven't done any Formula One testing here, but the track obviously suits me well. I went round here in the RS4 yesterday doing taxi rides for guests, so maybe that gave me a chance to learn the racing lines a little! I'm glad to have been in the top five in both sessions, so I'm happy
Anthony Davidson (5th - Honda test driver)
We've had an uninterrupted day today and covered a lot of laps. The car was reliable and we've managed to find a good balance for short runs in the morning and long runs this afternoon. We have gathered a lot of data to look at from the long runs regarding the tyre decision and generally we are happy with our day's work
Ralf Schumacher (6th)
It was good to be back at the N?rburgring and the weather here was surprisingly good considering how this region is always so unpredictable. Overall, today's preparations went relatively well. We finished our planned programme of set-up and tyre work on my car. We are still searching for grip and pushing to get more out of our package, and although the tyre performance is improving, it is difficult to say on Friday how the weekend will unfold
Jenson Button (7th)
We've had a pretty straightforward Friday in terms of what we've been working on - set-up and tyre choices. As usual Anthony has been doing much of the running to enable Rubens and I to preserve our cars for the race. This is always a very strange circuit to get a good balance on because of the camber changes but the car is working reasonably well. There are a few balance issues that we need to solve and it's just very low grip out there, that's the biggest issue. I guess we will see how we can improve on that for tomorrow
Robert Kubica (8th - BMW Sauber test driver)
They were good sessions and we concentrated mainly on longer distance runs to see how the tyres would perform in the race, as we struggled a lot in Imola. We wanted to see which are the best tyres. The choice was not easy, but we did lots of laps and have lots of data. We were not really looking for the lap times, but regards the pace I think we are consistent. It could be better, but we are not looking that bad compared to the other third drivers. We have to improve quite a lot of things
Team Quotes
Williams - Sam Michael (Technical Director)
Today was productive, working on race set-up and choosing tyres. Alex did his usual job of thoroughly checking the tyre performance of the two Bridgestones available here. Both look good, so it?ll be a difficult choice for the race. Alex also went through checks of the cooling systems and brakes without any problems. We did more running with Mark and Nico to give them extra track time, which will benefit them by the end of the weekend. Both drivers tried some planned set-up changes, so we?ll pool all that data tonight and look at the direction we should take for the
remainder of the weekend. So far everything is going to plan.
Renault - Pat Symonds (Executive Director of Engineering)
We were rather surprised at the poor grip levels we encountered today, which were lower than expected. In spite of this though, we completed some good tests and collected the data we need to improve the car set-up overnight. The balance was as normal in low grip conditions, that's to say unpredictable, but we are clear on what we need to do to improve the situation tomorrow. The Michelin tyres are working well, but we can see even from the Friday times that there are a number of cars which are very close in performance.
Ferrari - Jean Todt
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I have to say this was just the usual Friday during which the team worked on the comparison of the two types of tyre brought here by Bridgestone and on defining the best settings on the car for the race. We acquired some interesting data, which will now be evaluated by the engineers to make all the necessary choices for the rest of the Grand Prix. From what we have seen so far, we can say that our chassis, engine and Bridgestone tyre package,should allow us to be competitive.
Red Bull - N/A
Honda - Gil de Ferran (Sporting Director)
We have had quite a productive Friday with all three cars. Anthony ran non-stop and as a result we have a lot of tyre data to go through tonight. We also elected to run both Jenson and Rubens during both sessions, giving us an opportunity to evaluate the race cars earlier. Looking at the day as a whole, we are reasonably fast but there is room for improvement on the car balance front. We shall see what tomorrow brings
Toyota - Dieter Gass
Unfortunately it was a difficult day for us as we had some vibrations on both cars in the first session, and the vibrations resumed on Jarno's car in the afternoon. We changed a lot of items on the car, yet the vibrations were still present. We will have to evaluate this issue even further in detail in preparation for tomorrow. This makes our tyre choice particularly difficult, which is already challenging at this track. Although Ralf finished his entire programme, we hope to gain better information during tomorrow's practice session before heading into qualifying
BMW Sauber - Mario Theissen (Motorsport Director)
Robert completed the programme we had scheduled for him, and his times were fine. Neither Nick nor Jacques were satisfied with the set-up of their cars. We now have to compare the data collected from all three cars before tomorrow?s practice and qualifying, and make any changes that are necessary
McLaren - Ron Dennis
An uneventful Friday practice. The grip levels today were very low making it difficult for both drivers to set-up their cars. Tomorrow should be a different story
Toro Rosso - N/A
MF1 Racing - Colin Kolles (Managing Director)
We are improving, and the times don't lie. This is a fact. Adrian did a very impressive job for us today, but I have to say that I was perhaps the only one who wasn't surprised. I helped him to become a Mercedes junior driver and I know his potential. If he continues in this way, he will have a good future in F1
Super Aguri - Aguri Suzuki (Team Principal)
It is very regretful that Yuji is not driving with SAF1 Team in this Grand Prix, but Franck Montagny has shown a good performance today and he has provided some valuable information and feedback to the team on the car. Takuma also did a good run today; he tested some different tyre and car setups. Today was very meaningful day and I believe we have made a small but important step forward
One can only, but must always live in hope.
Sorry, I am a tad hormonal 
