Spanish GP Benetton Friday notes

The Benetton Renault Sport B201s of Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button ran faultlessly on the opening day of the Spanish Grand Prix. The race is the first of Formula OneTs new electronic era, with the reintroduction of traction control and other driver aids.

Giancarlo Fisichella:
"We are working in the right direction. There have been a few useful set-up improvements, but we are still too far off the pace. We are pushing as hard as we can, but I donTt expect to qualify much better than row seven or eight tomorrow. The car is understeering quite a lot, particularly in the slower corners."

Jenson Button:
"I'm starting to get to get to grips with car now. My left shoulder, which has been a bit sore recently, is getting better all the time and I am enjoying finding out how the traction control systems work. The car has not run too badly at all, actually. It is improving all the time O and thatTs the important thing."

Mike Gascoyne:
We had a productive day with both cars, evaluating the tyres and also the new electronic aids. We have had only a limited amount of testing during the past few weeks, so today was pretty much a test session. We are happy with the progress we have made, the car looks more competitive than has been the case at recent races and I hope that will translate to an improved qualifying performance tomorrow."

Pat Symonds:
"It was an interesting session today with the reintroduction of the electronic controls. There is plenty to learn, but things went pretty successfully on that front. It is going to be hard to finalise our tyre choice this weekend, but the car is running well and I think we have achieve a lot."