Japanese GP McLaren Friday notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen finished Friday's free practice sessions for the last race in the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship in fourth place after setting a time of 1:36.430. David Coulthard's time of 1:36.638 made him seventh fastest. Mika completed 34 laps and David 33.

Mika Hakkinen
'Today's two sessions have left me with a positive impression. We have been able to optimise the set-up step by step with encouraging results. This circuit requires a very refined set up as it's extremely tricky, especially the first sector with its fast corners.'

David Coulthard
'A pretty normal Friday's practice where we compared tyre compounds and did some general set up work to establish what is the right way to go. I'm pretty pleased with the balance so far. There was a bit of a tricky moment in the second session when I went wide at the entry to Turn One. Some blanking tape getting on my left front brake disc caused a small fire during one of my stops, but no major drama at all. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and aim to finish the season with a good result.'

Ron Dennis
'An uneventful but positive Friday practice session.'

Norbert Haug
'Quite a positive start to the weekend. The team learnt a lot and we are all reasonably happy with the progress we made.'

Chassis
Hakkinen: MP4/16-04
Coulthard: MP4/16-06
Spare (Hakkinen): MP4/16-05
Spare: MP4/16-07