Spanish GP Ferrari Friday notes

Rubens Barrichello:
"The day got off to a very good start. Then, halfway through the second hour I had to spend a long time in the pits because of a problem with the left half-shaft. Once back on the circuit, I found that the track conditions had changed a lot, as the temperature had gone up. I think I have acquired enough data to know what set-up I want and also what type of tyre to use for the rest of the weekend."

Michael Schumacher:
"We had a good test at this track about one and a half months ago, which gave us a lot of data and pointed us in the right direction. Now we are making final improvements to the car, which seem to be going the right way. Tomorrow, in qualifying, we will find out how good it is. The arrival of traction control and the other electronic aids are of course an important factor here and I think we are one of the few teams which have worked intensively on the system, so we are pretty sorted out, but I don't believe anyone can claim to have the perfect system yet. We are still experimenting and trying to improve."

Ross Brawn:
"This was our first day with the new systems at a race weekend. But after all the testing we have done, there were no surprises today. We tested here with traction control five weeks ago and the situation today was similar to then. We also did a tyre comparison and it is not yet quite clear which tyre we would prefer for the race. We spent the day in race set-up and generally it was a good day."

Jean Todt:
"This was the first official practice session to be run under the new regulations governing electronics. As usual on a Friday, we worked towards the race, trying out both types of tyre available. We can deduce that our cars are competitive, even if, at the moment, it is hard to tell which team is best exploiting the new regulations. As for qualifying, I think it will be the usual close fight for pole position and a place on the front rows between the top teams."