Turkish GP: Michelin Friday practice notes

NEW BOY VETTEL CAUSES A STIR... WITH MICHELIN

BMW Sauber/Michelin's new test recruit Sebastian Vettel set fastest time on the opening day of the Turkish Grand Prix meeting at Istanbul Park. The German lapped the 5.340- kilometre (3.318-mile) circuit in 1m 28.091s during the second of today's sessions. He has also made a little bit of history: at 19 years and 53 days he is the youngest driver to participate in a world championship grand prix meeting.

Six Michelin drivers featured in today's aggregate top 10. Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes) was fastest this morning and third overall, ahead of Jenson Button (Honda, fourth), Anthony Davidson (Honda, fifth), Robert Doornbos (Red Bull, eighth) and Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren Mercedes, 10th).

Michelin's day
Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director:

"The track has evolved in the manner we predicted since we first raced here 12 months ago. The high ambient temperatures are generating a lot of heat and the surface is retaining much of that. So far, the rear tyres seem to be suffering rather more than they did during the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix."

"Continuing the theme of recent races, our partners have chosen a wide range of options for Istanbul Park and we have brought nine different products to this race. This broadens the range of analytical work we have to do, but it allows our teams to have tyres that are finely tuned to their individual needs."

"So far the primes and options are working pretty much as we expected, although we need to keep a close eye on potential graining with the softer compounds particularly in the case of the front right tyre, which is exposed to significant loads through Turn Eight."

"The goal, as always, will be to combine our customary speed with consistency over a race stint. We still have some work to do before finalising tyre selections for Sunday, but we have built up a solid database today and the initial signs are encouraging."

-credit: michelin