Malaysian GP: McLaren Friday notes

West McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fastest in today's Free Practice for the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix. Kimi's time of 1:37.399 put him top of the timesheets whilst David's time of 1:38.038 made him ...

West McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fastest in today's Free Practice for the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix. Kimi's time of 1:37.399 put him top of the timesheets whilst David's time of 1:38.038 made him second. Kimi completed 26 laps whilst David only did 18 after he was forced to miss the majority of the first session. Following detailed analysis it was revealed that a high-tension engine coil harness shortcircuited which led to the right hand cylinder bank overheating its exhaust which subsequently failed leading to a bodywork fire.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

"Its nice to be fastest but its too early to say how we will do tomorrow. Obviously I hope we can show the same level of competitiveness, but at least we know we are on the pace. We worked through our programme and apart from a small problem with the brakes in the first session, it was trouble free. I don't think there is anything special that has improved our performance since Melbourne but of course having dry weather allows us to work on the car but as always let's wait and see where we are tomorrow."

DAVID COULTHARD

"As a day of preparation today wasn't ideal. I was unable to do much running in the first session as the car developed an electrical problem, which caused a fire. I managed to get the car back to the pits to ensure that the mechanics would have enough time to carry out the necessary work in time for the second session. In the circumstances to set the second fastest time is encouraging but as always its Friday and what is important is where we end up tomorrow."

RON DENNIS

"The problems we experienced in the first practice required us to shorten and vary our intended programme. In the circumstances the outcome is encouraging, but of course Friday's Free Practice has often little to do with the result of qualifying."

NORBERT HAUG

"The first session saw us having some problems but the second one worked out better and the team learned a lot about the set-up required for this circuit."

David Coultard Chassis 02
Kimi Raikkonen Chassis 03
T-Car (Kimi) Chassis 01

Session 1 - Ambient temperature: 31C
Session 1 - Ambient temperatire: 36C
Session 2 - Ambient temperature: 33C
Session 2 - Ambient temperature: 41C