Monaco GP: McLaren Thursday practice notes

West McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard finished today's practice for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix in fifth and 11th places respectively. Kimi set a fastest time of 1:15.479 and completed 32 laps whilst David set a best time of 1:16.229 and did 32 laps. Qualifying for the 78-lap race will take place on Saturday.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"A good practice session where we went through most of our planned programme. Like David I had a problem with the power steering which caused some interruption to the second session. The circuit has been resurfaced, so it's not as bumpy as it used to be. The car seems to suit the tight circuit design here in Monaco, so hopefully we can fight for good positions if everything keeps going well."

David Coulthard:

"I always look forward to driving around the Monaco circuit. As we had to do some repairs to our power steering system, we couldn't do as many laps as we would have liked in the second session. Otherwise it looks like our pace is reasonable. It's brilliant to be able to attack the corners. and as this is a real drivers' circuit I enjoy it so much more than many others."

Ron Dennis:

"As a result of the tight corners Monte Carlo is a circuit that requires a car to have greater steering travel. Unfortunately the modification which we introduced to achieve this caused some seal failures which certainly interrupted both drivers' second practice sessions. Alternative components will be manufactured by Saturday which should resolve this small problem. Apart from this, both cars have performed well but of course David was not able to run in the latter and grippier part of the second session."

Norbert Haug:

"Until now everything doesn't look too bad as we were running in race trim today. However what that means, we will only find out on Saturday which is the important day."

David Coulthard: MP4-19 03
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-19 04
T-car (Kimi): MP4-19 01

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