Hungarian GP Friday Stewart notes

STEWART-FORD NOTES AND QUOTES 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring

Friday 14th August: FREE PRACTICE

* Both drivers made steady progress during the two sessions today. They spent the morning running on wet tyres after heavy showers before the start of the session. The track had dried considerably by the afternoon allowing them to run trouble-free on grooved tyres. Rubens covered 23 laps and produced a best time of 1:21.414 which put him in 10th position. Jos ran 28 laps and finished 12th with a fastest time of 1:21.903.

Paul Stewart, Managing Director:

'It was quite a productive day for the team. Most of our efforts were focused on coming to terms with a very slippery track. That dictated what adjustments we made to the set-up. We had a restricted run in the wet during the morning session which meant that we had a lot to get through in the afternoon. Nonetheless, it's nice to plan ahead for qualifying in the positive positions that we are in. The track conditions could change overnight with the Formula 3000s putting a lot more rubber down this afternoon so if we continue our progress we should be in pretty good shape for qualifying.'

Martin Whitaker, Ford European Director of Motorsport:

'Both cars will once again be using Series 5 engines throughout the weekend. The engines ran faultlessly in today's sessions and fresh ones will be fitted for tomorrow. The performance of the first day turned out to be encouraging and we look forward to vying for grid positions tomorrow.'

Rubens Barrichello: Car no. 18: SF-2/04 Laps: 23 Best time: 1:21.414

'Generally I'm quite happy with the day's work after we had so little running this morning. Because the circuit is so slippery, the set-up is always crucial here. We are working towards an optimum set-up although we haven't hit the target yet. We will study the data tonight and continue working towards improving the car's suitability for the track tomorrow morning and look for a solid qualifying performance. I couldn't get a really quick out lap towards the end of the session to bring the tyres up to temperature so I know I could have gone quicker.'

Jos Verstappen: Car no.19: SF-2/03 Laps: 28 Best time: 1:21.903

'I'm reasonable happy with the balance of the car. We still have some work to do with the set-up and I believe we can improve our time tomorrow. One of the main things is that the new surface makes the track very slippery. We did a few laps in the morning session despite the rain, so at least now we will have some idea if it rains again during the weekend. The right tyre choice is very important here at the Hungaroring and we have tried a few different ones today. All in all I'm optimistic.'