Australian GP Friday McLaren notes

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - FRIDAY PRACTICE Chassis No: Mika Hakkinen No:1 David Coulthard No:2 T.Car :No:4

The West McLaren Mercedes team started off with competitive lap times which placed the team first and second for today. It wasn't without incident however, as Mika Hakkinen found the limit of the car on the new Bridgestone tyres when he went off at the last corner before the start / finish straight. David finished a good days practice with the best time of the day, 1:31.971 with Mika just behind him on 1:31.985.

MIKA HAKKINEN "It's been a good start to the weekend. The car feels quick, it feels very solid, very strong in the corners and it is good to start off being first and second. Everyone has done a good job over the winter and all the hard work in testing during the last month seems to have paid off. Naturally I am annoyed with myself for going off, but at least I now know the limit of the car! However, we mustn?t forget it is only Friday and we have to stay very focused, after all you don't win any points on Friday or Saturday, only on Sunday."

DAVID COULTHARD "It is a good feeling to know that we have put in quick times today but I still need to put in some work in the first section. We only used one set of tyres today and I went off the circuit a couple of times in order to make sure I didn't flat spot them by locking up. I decided a bit of grass on the rubber was a better option than a flat spot. It is far to early to make any predictions for the race"

RON DENNIS "A good days work by the team, which is particularly satisfying after the last month which has seen everyone in the company putting in a supreme effort. A satisfactory result for both drivers, although of course it would have been better for Mika not to have had an accident. Fortunately he was unhurt but repairing the car will be somewhat time consuming for the mechanics. A impressive job by David in the closing minutes of the session. So far so good - but there is a lot of the weekend left!"

NORBERT HAUG "A turbulent beginning. First of all I am surprised by the time differences. I am glad for David who put in a solid performance. But today's results are certainly nothing more than a first indication of where we are."