Spanish GP Friday McLaren notes

SPANISH GRAND PRIX - FRIDAY PRACTICE

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

Variable winds and the high ambient temperature influenced both of today's practice sessions. The West McLaren Mercedes team worked to optimise the car for these conditions. Mika Hakkinen was fourth quickest just four tenths behind the fastest time of the day with a 1:23.982 whilst David Coulthard finished today's session in seventh place on a 1:24.339.

MIKA HAKKINEN 'We spent this morning optimising the car for the current conditions which were very hot with changeable winds and they may well be the same in the race.

DAVID COULTHARD 'We worked through the usual pattern of set up checks and changes, as we always do on a Friday. Whilst I am not as quick as I would like to be yet, I am certain there is plenty more to come tomorrow morning.'

RON DENNIS 'Today was a little bit like skiing without snow - you can still have the desire but the elements work against you. Barcelona is notorious for the gusty conditions we experienced today, therefore we compromised the set up of the car to accomodate these conditions should we experience them either tomorrow or on Sunday. At the moment the times are not representative of anyone's true performance.'

NORBERT HAUG 'Difficult circumstances with winds blowing from various directions made today's practices difficult for everybody. That said, we should be in good shape tomorrow and it looked as if not all the teams ran in race configuration today.'