San Marino GP Friday McLaren notes

SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX FRIDAY PRACTICE

Chassis Numbers: David Coulthard MP4 - 14/04 Mika Hakkinen MP4 - 14/05 T. Car MP4 - 14/02

The West McLaren Mercedes team progressed through a programme of work to prepare the cars for the San Marino Grand Prix. Both drivers finished the day's sessions in a confident mood with Mika posting the fastest time of the day with a 1:28.467 and David a close second with a 1:28.605.

MIKA HAKKINEN 'Today has been the hottest day so far this year and it has been interesting to work with the car in these conditions. It has been good to see how the tyres work in these temperatures and we have worked hard on improving the handling of the car throughout both practice sessions. I am looking forward to tomorrow's practice and qualifying.'

DAVID COULTHARD 'I am happy with my progress today despite loosing some time this morning with an alternator problem. We seem to be on the right track and I think tomorrow's qualifying will be an interesting session.'

RON DENNIS 'David lost some time in first session with an alternator fault. Apart from that, both drivers had a trouble free day. Neither car is yet optimised but we are moving in the right direction and as always it is all about Saturday afternoon.'

NORBERT HAUG 'A good beginning of the weekend for us. Everything ran according to plan. Tomorrow we will work for a good qualifying time.'