German GP: Ferrari Friday practice notes

German GP - First day of practice

Jean Todt:

"A bit of a short day today. In the first hour, we left it to other drivers, especially the test drivers, to clean up the track and in the second, we were waiting for the track to dry out after the light rain. This meant the work programme had to be compressed into the final half hour, in terms of working on the set-up of the car and on evaluating the behaviour of the Bridgestone tyres."

"Obviously, it is much too early to draw any conclusions, but there are no apparent reasons why our package should not be competitive, as has been the case in the last few races. We have to wait for qualifying to see if our package is good enough to beat our rivals and even more importantly in the race itself."

Michael Schumacher:

"At the moment, the situation seems pretty good, but we have to bear in mind that other teams have carried out difference work programmes in terms of tyres today, which also explains the difference in the times. The weather reduced the track time at our disposal. Now we must study the data gathered carefully to get a realistic idea of the pecking order, but I think we have not yet seen the true potential of some of the teams."

Felipe Massa:

"It was a good day. Even though we did not run much, I immediately felt the car was well balanced and the Bridgestone tyres worked well. Therefore, I am happy with what we achieved today, while knowing we still have a lot to do. All in all, we can say we have started this race weekend a bit better than on some other occasions and so I am feeling optimistic."

Ross Brawn:

"The weather shortened the time available to us in the second hour of free practice which is why we only have a snapshot of the situation rather than a full picture. All the same, initial indications seem good. Obviously, the track is still very dirty and there's not much grip, but that will change over the weekend. The car is well balanced and quite quick. In conclusion, a pretty good first day."

Second practice only
Michael Schumacher: 2nd
1:16.502, 14 laps
Chassis: 254

Felipe Massa: 5th
1:17.205, 11 laps
Chassis: 252

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