Australian GP: McLaren Saturday notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard will start the opening race of the 2002 Formula One season in fourth place after setting a time of 1.26.446. Kimi Raikkonen will line up fifth in his debut race for the West McLaren Mercedes team with a time of 1.27.161. Initially a red flag interrupted the session and later rain prevented both David and Kimi from improving their times further. David completed six laps and Kimi did seven out of a possible 12.

David Coulthard
'I came out of the second last corner on my first flying lap and Jacques Villeneuve was on the left. I went to go out on the outside of him, but unfortunately he moved over and squeezed me against the wall, which I fortunately only touched a little. It wasn't deliberate and luckily there was negligible damage to the car. I managed to get one flying lap before the weather made further improvement impossible. In the circumstances I'm not too disappointed being on the second row of the grid and we will see what the race brings.'

Kimi Raikkonen
'I enjoyed my first qualifying session for the team, but the weather really messed things up a bit. We didn't get enough time to go for it and I made a mistake on my fast lap so I believe I could have been quicker. I hope for a dry race tomorrow.'

Ron Dennis
'In the circumstances our grid positions are not too bad.'

Norbert Haug
'The conditions today have been difficult for us from the beginning and David and Kimi were unable to do as much running in the dry as we would have liked. Nevertheless the basis for the race is not a bad one. More rubber on the tarmac should help tomorrow.'

Chassis
Coulthard: MP4-17/02
Raikkonen: MP4-17/03
Spare (Coulthard): MP4-17/01

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