Japanese GP Williams Friday notes

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team had a productive first day of practice in Suzuka. For Juan Pablo Montoya this was his first visit to the track, which he liked very much, and he ended up second-quickest after completing a total of 44 laps. Ralf Schumacher, who did 33 laps, suffered some setup and technical problems and was ninth fastest.

Juan Pablo Montoya
"The track is brilliant and you really have got to drive it. It is one of those tracks where you have got to push in every corner, it is very exciting. It is quite tricky, you have to time it right and you can slide the car round. I do enjoy it. The car is fine, we have to decide which tyre we are going to use, but both look okay as Michelin have done a good job for here."

Ralf Schumacher
"We didn't get the setup how we wanted it today. I had too much understeer and, due to a minor electronic problem, I could not do as many laps as I wanted to. We haven't made the decision which tyres to use yet, so until tomorrow we have some work to do."

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"A useful day of homework with both cars. We had a small technical problem on Ralf's car with the throttle control, but the problem was isolated and corrected. Otherwise the work has been mostly comparing the two tyres and making decisions for tomorrow, as usual."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"Practice went very well for us. The team and both drivers found a good rhythm, which is important for this track. Given that Juan Pablo is driving here on one of the most difficult Formula 1 tracks for the first time, his lap times are impressive and underline his talent. Ralf seems to have difficulties finding his best setup. If we don't have any technical problems tomorrow, we should be fighting for the front two rows in qualifying."

-BMW-