26/04/2002

Spanish Grand Prix - Free Practice Round-Up

Panasonic Toyota Racing's Formula 1 campaign moves to Barcelona this weekend one of Europe's lifestyle capitals for round five of the FIA world championship.

The Circuit de Catalunya is one of the most technically demanding circuits on the F1 calendar. Aerodynamics play a crucial role and tyres are an important factor around the 2.93-mile track where temperatures and wear rates can be high. That means that it is even more important than ever to achieve a good handling balance for the race.

At the end of the opening day Mika Salo is 18th fastest (1m22.082s) and Allan McNish is 21st (1m22.564s).

"I had lots of problems today " Salo said "but I think we have a pretty good idea of what to do and I'm not worried about tomorrow's qualifying at all."

Team manager Ange Pasquali explained: "We changed the rear end on Mika's car due to an oil leak and the mechanics managed it in just 10 minutes which is fantastic. There was no panic at all and they just got the job done.

"Other than that it was an interesting session and we have learned quite a lot. Obviously we knew before we came here that Barcelona was not going to be one of the better places for us. You need maximum aerodynamic downforce at this track and that is one of the areas where we are lacking a little bit at the moment."

"In the first session this morning Allan was struggling a little with set-up but he now seems a little more confident because we have identified some areas on his car where we can make progress for example with gear ratios. But we still have work to do and we need to improve in the Saturday morning practice sessions."

Barcelona is one of the circuits where the majority of F1 testing takes place and most of the team's opposition has data for different conditions gathered over seasons. Panasonic Toyota Racing's database continues to grow and as Motorsport boss Ove Andersson points out "it is all part of our learning process."

Michael Schumacher winner of three of the season's first four races once again set the pace for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. The field is more tightly packed than ever with just 1.7s separating the Ferrari from Mika Salo's time.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has made it a 1-2 for Germany at the top of the time
sheets for Orange Arrows with Brazilian team mate Enrique Bernoldi also
making it into the top six.

Jenson Button set third quickest time in the first of the Renaults marginally faster than Rubens Barrichello with the second Ferrari and Olivier Panis in the quicker of the two Lucky Strike British American Racing Honda entries.