Hungarian GP: Jaguar Friday notes

Unusually low temperatures greeted teams and spectators alike today at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest. Despite the notoriously slippery circuit Pedro and Eddie completed a total of 41 and 32 laps respectively. Both drivers worked through a programme of set-up and tyre evaluations in preparation for tomorrow's qualifying session. By the end of the two one-hour long Free Practice sessions, Pedro and Eddie were placed in 9th and 13th positions respectively. The Jaguar R3 will contest this weekend's race with no new modifications or changes since the last race in Germany three weeks ago.

Niki Lauda CEO and Team Principal

"This is a very difficult circuit to master when it comes to set-up and balance. The circuit isn't used a great deal throughout the year and subsequently becomes very dusty and slippery. Combined with a somewhat cooler track temperature than usual and it becomes very hard to generate maximum grip levels. We witnessed many drivers fall victim to the poor grip level and one can only hope for more rubber to be laid down by the support races. Hotter temperatures would also be very welcome, but overall we haven't experienced any real surprises today."

Pedro de la Rosa

"We got through a lot of work today, especially on the set-up which has changed considerably over the two sessions. Because of this, the car seems to have picked up more grip, but there is still more time left to extract. I am not entirely satisfied with our set-up and it is difficult to make proper judgements given how slippery the track is - particularly around turn eleven where many drivers have crashed this morning."

"The only real problem I suffered from today was a broken front wing that came about after an incident with Coulthard. I was pushing hard and came up behind DC who appeared to be talking on the radio or something. I tried going around him and at that point he turned into the pit lane and I was there. Apart from a written-off front wing, there was no serious damage to the car. On today's form, one has to say that qualifying will be very tough unless the track temperature rises significantly."

Eddie Irvine

"The car is very twitchy in places and subsequently very difficult to place going into corners. I was suffering from a lot of oversteer in the first session but that got better during the second session. I also seem to be suffering from what appears to be a problem on the throttle response, albeit nothing that cannot be fixed. The track should, however, get quicker over the weekend and provide more grip which is desperately needed by all concerned. The car is proving to be quite a handful at the moment and not very forgiving. Let's see what qualifying brings but it won't be easy for us here. Many people appear to be struggling today and it will no doubt make for an interesting day tomorrow."

Pedro de la Rosa
Position: 9th
Best time: 1:18.036
Laps: 41
Chassis: R3-04
T-Car: R3-06

Eddie Irvine
Position: 13th
Best time: 1:18.718
Laps: 32
Chassis: R3-05

-jaguar