McLaren Jerez test notes 2005-02-10

Juan Pablo Montoya completed 50 laps of the Jerez circuit today with a fastest time of 1m16.442s.

The focus for Juan Pablo this morning was tyre selection for next month's Malaysian Grand Prix. Juan Pablo completed a series of short runs, changing set-up between runs to accommodate the different compounds tested.

Juan Pablo's afternoon was affected by a clutch problem. Consequently he completed only one lap after lunch and did not run for the remainder of the afternoon. The team will work to fix the problem overnight so that he can continue with the planned testing programme tomorrow.

Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen did not take part in today's testing session after the team discovered a damaged suspension part on his MP4-20 late last night (February 9th).

The damaged part was flown back to the McLaren Technology Centre early this morning to allow for a comprehensive forensic analysis. Revised parts will be flown out to Jerez today to allow Kimi to continue his testing programme tomorrow.

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"We think the tyre testing we have done today will ensure we have the good rear stability and high speed consistency that is suited to the demands of the Sepang circuit. It was unfortunate that we had to stop today's testing programme early, however I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel tomorrow."

Jonathan Neale, Managing Director, McLaren Racing:

"Obviously it's disappointing but not unusual for problems to happen at this stage of the testing programme. In the case of Kimi's car, revised parts will be flown out to Jerez so that Kimi can test tomorrow, and the team will work overnight to fix Juan Pablo's car so that he can continue with the final day of running."

Kimi and Juan Pablo will be at the circuit tomorrow for the final day of the test.

-mclaren-