Japanese GP: Ferrari Friday notes

!@Jean Todt:

"As usual on Friday, we have worked on set-up and on tyre choice. We know this is the decisive weekend of the season, but we do not want this factor to put us under any extra pressure. Along with Bridgestone on the tyre side and Shell as regards fuels and lubricants, we are as well prepared as possible. Things went pretty well for us in this afternoon's qualifying, even if Rubens lost some time in the final sector. But for this, he could have finished higher than seventh. Tomorrow, we have to make the final choices as far as set-up, tyres and fuel levels for the start of the race are concerned. In the afternoon, we will then tackle the final qualifying session of the season and the relative positions on the grid will be very important come Sunday afternoon."

Michael Schumacher:

"I am quite happy with my lap and my time, considering that, yet again going out first is a slight disadvantage. Although, here it was less penalising than at some other circuits. The car seems to be handling very well and is very competitive. Looking at the times, the top runners are all very close, which means that tomorrow's fight for pole will be good fun and the outcome will be hard to predict. I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend."

Rubens Barrichello:

"I am happy with the handling of the car. It's a shame about the mistake at the chicane. I came in a bit too quick and had to brake very hard, losing around three tenths. On the old layout at this point, the braking area was a bit longer. Now it has a different feel to it, but I think the turns are more fun and flow better. Both this morning and in qualifying, the times of all the top teams are very close, so I think we can be very competitive for the rest of the weekend."

Ross Brawn:

"We adopted a rather cautious approach to this qualifying and, given how things went, I think we can expect to be pretty competitive tomorrow. The drivers are happy with the balance of their cars and the performance of the tyres. In tomorrow's free practice, we still have a bit of work to do in terms of choosing between the two types of tyre available. Overall, we can expect both qualifying and the race to be very close."

Qualifying - First session
Michael Schumacher: 3rd 1.30.464 3 laps chassis 229
Rubens Barrichello: 7th 1.30.758 3 laps chassis 233
Temperatures: air 25 °C, track 32/31 °C

Free practice
Michael Schumacher: 2nd 1.31.009 18 laps chassis 229
Rubens Barrichello: 4th 1.31.217 19 laps chassis 233
Temperatures: air 23/24 °C, track 29/30 °C

-ferrari-