European GP: Michelin Friday practice notes

SOLID START FOR MICHELIN AND ITS PARTNERS

Anthony Davidson (Honda Racing F1 Team) was the quickest Michelin runner during the opening free practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix of Europe at the Nürburgring, Germany. The Englishman set the second fastest lap of the day - a 1m 32.399s during this morning's cooler, slightly faster conditions.

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1 Team, third), Robert Doornbos (Red Bull Racing, fifth), world championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault, sixth) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault, ninth) were the other Michelin drivers in the aggregated top 10.

Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director:

"Track conditions traditionally improve on the opening day of a grand prix weekend, so today has been a slight curiosity. The circuit was clearly slower this afternoon than it was when we ran in 'green' conditions this morning, so we will take a good, hard look at the data to understand the potential implications for the balance of the weekend."

"We have brought seven tyre specifications to this race and there are significant differences between the hardest of the hard and the softest of the soft - much more so than usual, because of the potentially wide weather variations. The forecast indicates that conditions are likely to remain warm between now and Sunday, but so far our tyres have performed exactly as we expected them to and whatever happens I expect us to be in good shape."

-michelin-