20/05/2004

Grand Prix of Monaco - Free Practice Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing has finished the opening day at Monte Carlo round 6 of this year's Formula 1 World Championship with its drivers in eighth (Ricardo Zonta) 13th (Cristiano da Matta) and 15th (Olivier Panis) positions.

Monaco is always a special challenge with the emphasis on avoiding trouble in free practice given the high kerbs and the closeness of the barriers that can bring proceedings to a premature halt.

Toyota's Brazilian third driver Zonta completed a total of 64 laps on the day not far short of the 78-lap Monaco race distance and said: "We did a lot of tyre comparison work and by the end of the afternoon's second practice session we found a good solution. The important thing on the first day at Monaco is to keep the car out of the wall because if the team is lacking data it can spend the rest of the weekend trying to catch up. From that point of view we are in good shape."

Da Matta added: "In terms of a balance I think the car is quite good here but Monte Carlo has quite a lot of bumps and camber changes which means that it can test some of the areas where we have had some weaknesses in the past. For me the tyre choice is quite clear even if the grip level here does change quite a lot."

Olivier Panis said: "I know it is a bit of a clich to talk about traffic but Monte Carlo is definitely the place where you notice it most because quite a lot of the corners are blind and of course it is very difficult to pass. It means that stringing consecutive laps together is more difficult here which makes doing something like tyre comparisons difficult. But Ricardo has done a good job with that and I think we have a good basis for the weekend."

Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne explained: "All three drivers did experience some loose handling from the back of the car in the initial practice session but we worked quite well towards eliminating that in the second session. The cars' reliability proved faultless and the drivers did not put a mark on them. You can't ask for too much more than that from the first day in Monaco."

Michael Schumacher's (1m14.741s) topped the times for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro ahead of Lucky Strike BAR Honda test driver Anthony Davidson (1m15.141s) Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari (1m15.319s) Jarno Trulli's Mild Seven Renault (1m15.472s) Kimi Raikkonen's West McLaren Mercedes (1m15.479s) and Jenson Button's BAR Honda (1m15.520s).