Practice Patter - Japanese Grand Prix.

Mika Hakkinen:


"Both sessions went well today, we worked through our race programme to find a good set-up, and seem to have found a reasonable balance. That said, you can always go quicker, and we will be looking to do that tomorrow in qualifying."


David Coulthard:


"A productive morning until the point of impact! As you would expect, I was pushing very hard on one corner, went a bit wide and put one wheel on the kerb, which saw the car spin quicker than I could catch it. There is a fair amount of damage to the car, but I know the team will work hard, as always, to fix it before tomorrow. I am looking forward to a competitive qualifying session."


Michael Schumacher:


"As expected, this track does not suit our car as well as the one in Malaysia, as it has many fast corners, whereas our car tends to go better in slower ones. The track was also very slippery today, and offered less grip than at the last race."


"Towards the end of the afternoon session, we found quite a good set-up, which is not reflected in the times as the tyres were old by then. There is still room for improvement, so I am confident that we can fight for pole tomorrow and a victory on Sunday."


Rubens Barrichello:


"Suzuka is such a complicated layout, and you need to find a balance to make [the car] work well through the Esses, the high-speed corners and the chicane. You have to have the car working in harmony in all three areas, so you tend to do a bit of juggling on the set-up. We made a big step forward on set-up towards the end of the second session, but there is still some work to do, and I'm confident that we are heading in the right direction."


Alex Zanardi:


"I was a bit surprised about the time I could set at the end of the session, because I feel that today's car is not handling well. At the same time, I think that everybody must have the same problems here because of a very dirty and slippery track. In reality we have got to work very hard to set up the car for tomorrow's qualifying, because I don't believe we will be able to maintain the same position if we don't make changes."


Olivier Panis:


"My practice session was divided truly into two parts. This morning, I had a lot of difficulty in finding the grip I needed, and I did not have a good feeling on my first set of tyres. We studied some points between the two sessions and I went out again, always with a fuel load, and having made some major changes to the front suspension. On my next set of tyres, it was satisfactory. We still have to refine some details before qualifying tomorrow, but we are going the right way and I am confident."


Giancarlo Fisichella:


"It is too early to understand our true capability on this track. My set-up was quite good, but it is hard to judge, as the tyres lose performance after the first lap. The key thing we must do is find grip."


Jacques Villeneuve:


"The grip here is very low, and the tyres always seem too hard but, at the end of the session on new tyres, the car seemed pretty good. Although the oil leak this morning meant we didn't do enough work, we managed to do a full afternoon session to catch up. With some more work on the balance, and if we manage to have a good day tomorrow, we can hope for a top six qualifying result. I like Suzuka - it's a great track where you can have a lot of fun."


Heinz-Harald Frentzen:


"The track was very slippery today, and it was hard work to get a good lap. The grip level is a lot lower than last year. But it is the same for everyone, and I think we will be competitive tomorrow."


Eddie Irvine:


"I don't think things are as bad as they look from my lap time today. My main concern was a lack of grip and, in this situation, it is always difficult to balance the car. I suffered with mid-corner understeer, which switched to oversteer when I put the power down on the exit. Tomorrow, with a different set-up and fresh tyres, I am sure I can do better."

"Maybe we will have to rely on McLaren's reliability record. Mika has started from pole 11 times but only won on four occasions - so even if he is on pole tomorrow, it is not the end of the world."


Ron Dennis:


"Apart from David's accident, it was an uneventful day. The cars are working quite well, and everyone is concentrating on the job in hand."


Jean Todt:


"Today, our work centred on preparation for the race. Neither driver has yet found quite the right set-up or balance on the car. Tomorrow, in both practice and qualifying, we will use the 048C version of the engine."


Ralf Schumacher:


"First of all I must say that I am happy to be back here in Suzuka because it's one of my favourite racetracks. To be honest, being Friday, I was expecting to do something better than this. Certainly I can't say that I am completely happy with my performance today as I felt the car was quite unstable, inconsistent and nervous on the rear. Anyway, I am pretty confident that we can sort this all out for tomorrow in order to do a good qualifying and in the end a good race."


Alex Wurz:


"We are struggling to find an optimal balance for the car, and are lacking grip, so these are the areas we need to work on before tomorrow."


Jean Alesi:


"This is a difficult circuit for our car, but the balance isn't far off. It's tricky to make the right tyre choice too, and the slippery state of the track has made it harder still."


Damon Hill:


"It was difficult this afternoon because I was playing catch-up after missing the morning session - you can't really afford to give away 20 laps of preparation. I was not happy at the start of the second session, but then I made some changes which I was pleased with and, in the end, I was happy with my lap time. I still could not find the right balance though - I just could not get the car to be consistent, and found it hard to drive as a result."


"I would like to say that I expect to do well here this weekend but, just in case that I don't make it to any of the top three press conferences between now and the end of the weekend, I want to say thank-you to everyone from the press who has grilled me and put me under pressure throughout my career. Maybe you will see me again in some other role, but not as a driver. This is, therefore, likely to be my last FIA press conference."


Ricardo Zonta:


"It's my first time at Suzuka in F1, so I spent the morning on old tyres, and didn't push at first because the car was very low and I didn't know its limit. In the second session, we put on new tyres, the car was a lot better and I found a lot of grip. Although the new tyres made a big difference, I still couldn't push too hard not knowing the limit of the car, so I maybe lost about half a second on my first flying lap."


Jarno Trulli:


"As the team asked, I did all my work professionally and with a clear goal - to find the bests et-up for my car using the same tyres in order to save one set for the weekend. In the same conditions as the other drivers, I was well-placed and this has given me confidence for tomorrow. At the end of the session, I did not improve my time, contrary to those who went on to new tyres."


Johnny Herbert:


"The car is very nervous at the rear, and we tried several set-up changes to try and calm it down. I expected to make an improvement when I went out on new tyres at the end, but the engine cut out, and a sensor warning light came on. The track is also quite dirty, particularly at 130R but, looking at Rubens' time today, I'm optimistic for tomorrow's qualifying."


Pedro Diniz:


"I had a problem with excessive oversteer all day, and we are looking closely to try and determine whether anything is actually wrong. As Jean says, it's hard to make the tyre choice here, and my problem didn't make that any easier."