British GP: Jaguar Friday notes

Jaguar Racing today began preparations for the British Grand Prix under heavy rain showers at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire (UK). Heavy showers produced standing water on most parts of the circuit and compromised the two one-hour Free Practic e sessions. What should have been an evaluation of the new aerodynamic package turned into a wet tyre test. Both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa reported no problems with the Jaguar R3, but were quite critical of the difficult track conditions. As a cons equence, a complete evaluation of the new aerodynamic package has not been possible and it is hoped that tomorrow's weather allows for a more comprehensive test programme in the run-up to the qualifying hour.

Niki Lauda -- CEO and Team Principal

"Not an ideal day to begin preparing for the weekend ahead, but this is Silverstone after all! The heavy rain has not lent itself well to our planned programme for today and instead of providing us with an understanding of the new aero package, we have had to resort to a wet tyre evaluation instead. The track was way too slippery, particularly in the second sector, and we can only hope for better conditions tomorrow. The drivers have, however, reported some encouraging feedback in certain areas of the car but until we conduct a full programme, the results from the new package remain inconclusive."

Pedro de la Rosa

"A very frustrating start to our British Grand Prix, but it's the same for everyone today. The track isn't allowing us to really push the car to the limits and because of this, we are not in a position to make conclusions about the new aero package. There are certainly some improvements that can already be felt, but we need to understand the package a lot better and this will only happen in dry conditions. The stadium section coming out of Bridge is very slippery and many drivers have found themselves in the gravel today -- including me. With different cars running different tyre compounds and fuel loads, today's lap times cannot in any way be used as comparative data and until tomorrow, the full extent of our aerodynamic development work remains unclear."

Eddie Irvine

"We have been very limited in what we can do today and in an effort to preserve some tyres for tomorrow and the race, we haven't done anywhere near as much as we would have liked. The circuit is very difficult in places, particularly around the slower sections of the track. It's really hard work out there and it makes it extremely hard to undertake a proper pre-race programme. We tried several variations of the wet tyre and did a few runs on the intermediates. We still have a fair way to go before we begin drawing any conclusions, but the early signs are encouraging, albeit somewhat diluted by the horrendous weather conditions."

Eddie Irvine
Position: 15th
Best Time: 1:35.682
Laps: 26
Chassis: R3 -- 05
T-Car: R3 -- 06

Pedro de la Rosa
Position: 13th
Best Time: 1:35.324
Laps: 39
Chassis: R3 -- 04

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