Malaysian GP Friday Benetton notes

Chassis Numbers: Car No.9 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 07 Car No.10 - Alexander Wurz - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 04

The first day was dedicated to learning about the new circuit in race set-up. The track was wet at the beginning of the morning session, but dried out quickly. In the morning Fisichella wasn’t able to run on the dry track because of an engine problem.

Giancarlo Fisichella: 11 th - 1:43.403

"This was quite a difficult day as we needed to learn about the track to work on the set-up. I had an engine problem in the first session and we lost a lot of valuable time. The car is suffering from oversteer and some understeer."

Alexander Wurz: 9 th - 1:43.311

"The circuit is very nice but it is tricky and not easy to drive. The car lacks grip and is sliding a lot, it is especially nervous at the rear. I particularly liked the car in the damp conditions."

Pat Symonds, Technical Director:

"It is always a challenge coming to a new circuit and seeing whether our simulations and predictions have been good. This is an extremely interesting circuit and in general I am happy with the progress we have made today. Unfortunately engine problems on Giancarlo’s car lost him the whole of the dry part of the first session and this has set us back a little. However I think we have made substantial progress thanks to the good work done by Alexander and his team and the process will continue tomorrow."