British GP: McLaren Friday practice notes

Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard finished first and fourth respectively in today's second practice session at the Silverstone circuit. Kimi set the fastest time with 1:18.655, whilst David's lap time was 1:19.287. Kimi completed five laps in the first practice and 16 in the second session. With six laps in the first and 17 laps in the second practice David completed a total of 23 laps.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"We completed our planned programme today and experienced no problems. I had a positive test here at Silverstone with the 19B a few weeks ago, so I was quite confident that the car would be good. Hopefully we can continue to improve it during tomorrow's practice. We were quickest today, but there is nothing to celebrate yet -- Saturday and Sunday are the important ones."

David Coulthard:

"An encouraging start to my home grand prix, but its early days and whilst it's looking good, tomorrow is another day. We have learnt a lot and will see what the next couple of days bring. MP4-19B is an improvement, and I feel that it should be possible to get on the podium, so that has to be the goal."

Ron Dennis:

"Today's times were encouraging but it's the rest of the weekend that counts. We knew in France that the MP4-19B was an improvement on the MP4-19A, but it's still too early to say how much. A troublefree day was enjoyed by both drivers, and we are really looking forward to the rest of the weekend, which hopefully we can continue in the same way."

Norbert Haug:

"A good first practice day. However, we shouldn't read too much into the times from our practice sessions so far as we want to see tomorrow and on Sunday how competitive we will be in comparison to the opposition in qualifying and the race."

David Coulthard: MP4-19B 02
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-19B 01
T-car (David): MP4-19A 01

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