Hungarian GP: McLaren Friday qualifying notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard set the fourth fastest time, of 1:22.786, in today's first qualifying session in Hungary. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen did 1:23.695, which put him 12th. Earlier today West McLaren Mercedes confirmed that David, Kimi, third driver Alexander Wurz and test driver Pedro de la Rosa will remain with the team in 2004.

David Coulthard:

"A tidy lap and I'm sure we can work to find more speed to further improve the package overnight. I was a bit tentative going into turn one on my qualifying lap as the circuit had a bit more grip than previously, but apart from that an OK lap. The new track lay out might provide a few overtaking opportunities as it slows down the cars at two significant corners, but the circuit surface is so dirty that it would be risky to go off the line to try and overtake. All in all a good start to the weekend."

Kimi Raikkonen:

"We went through a lot of work during practice this morning, but we still have some way to go with the set up of the car, which we will look at before tomorrow's qualifying session. There is no doubt that the track was very dirty particularly after the support race just before the start of the session, which affected the people who were out early today. As a result I will start mid way through tomorrow's session, which is not ideal, but at least it will be the same for most of the other main championship contenders, so we will see what happens."

Ron Dennis:

"With the circuit having been modified, and as a result of the debris from the earlier support race practice, the nominal advantage that the morning testers have increased and the early qualifiers struggled. Of course, as always it's about tomorrow afternoon."

Norbert Haug:

"This circuit here is becoming significantly faster from lap to lap. The top three in the World Championship had to start the session -- a handicap that resulted in bad lap times."

David Coulthard: MP4-17D 08
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-17D 09
T-car (Kimi): MP4-17D 07
Spare: MP4-17D 06

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