21/06/2002

European Grand Prix - Free Practice Round-Up

Panasonic Toyota Racing finished the first day of free practice for the European Grand Prix with Mika Salo in 9th place and Allan McNish 18th.

The original 14-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife a fearsome track was last used for a Grand Prix in 1976 but a revamped new shorter circuit returned to the calendar in 1984. This year sees another reworking of the circuit with a tight new first corner complex for the team's 'home' Grand Prix.

"I quite like the new layout it makes the track more interesting " said Salo. "As far as the car is concerned I was suffering a bit from understeer and had some minor electrical problems. We still have to find the right set-up but overall I'm quite confident."

McNish meanwhile suffered a puncture early in the day.

"That effectively meant that I had to put on a new set of tyres straight away and do a tyre comparison at the start of the first session which is not the ideal time to do it " he explained. "At the moment we are struggling a bit with understeer which loses you quite a bit of time here. The first corner is very bumpy under braking but the new corners themselves are quite nice."

Chief designer Gustav Brunner had mixed feelings about the team's ultimate prospects in Germany.

"It's not the best circuit for us but it's not too bad either " he said. "We are getting a little better with the set-up but this is a track that needs a lot of downforce and that is not the best area for us we know. But we've had two double non-finishes in a row and we hope to reverse that trend and get both cars to the end of the race."

David Coulthard topped the first day's times for West McLaren Mercedes with a lap 0.15s quicker than Michael Schumacher in the quicker of the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro cars. Coulthard's Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest from Rubens Barrichello with the second Ferrari. BMW Williams F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher completed the top six on the opening day.

The Nürburgring race is a 'home' event for many of the Cologne-based team. On a practical level the closeness of the factory allows better technical support but Brunner reported a largely trouble-free day for both cars.