US GP: Ferrari Friday notes

Michael Schumacher fastest in the free practice

Jean Todt:

"We could only run with one car, because of Barrichello's accident on his "out" lap this morning. Rubens lost control of the car because of a loss of pressure in the left rear tyre and then ended up in the wall. We are still investigating the causes of the incident. The F2002 has shown itself to be competitive even on an unusual track like this one here at Indianapolis, which is made up of two sections with completely different characteristics. As usual on Friday, we worked on tyre choice. Tomorrow we can anticipate the usual battle for pole position and we expect to place our cars on the front two rows. We are happy to be back racing in the United States in a calmer atmosphere to the one we experienced last year."

Michael Schumacher:

"Overall, we can be reasonably pleased with today's work. Even though I did very few laps in the morning, the car proved to be on the pace immediately. Then, in the afternoon, I worked on a tyre programme. I have to say I am surprised at the gap to the others and the order is also a bit strange. But we will not see the true picture until tomorrow, as we cannot be sure what fuel loads the others were running today. There was not much grip out on the track today, but we have seen a similar situation in the past here. It is the same for everyone."

Rubens Barrichello:

"There is not much to say, given that I had an accident on my first lap. We are still looking into its cause. It was fortunate that I hit the wall with the side of the car which lessened the impact. I was not hurt at all. This is one of those days to forget. Now I am looking forward to catching up tomorrow, but in any case, Michael's laps have given the team plenty of information, so I will be not starting from zero tomorrow. On top of that we have data from the past two years. There is still plenty of time to work on setting up the car tomorrow morning and I am confident I will be on the pace for qualifying."

Ross Brawn:

"After a difficult morning, the afternoon part of the session went well and was productive. Even though we ran with just one car, we were able to carry out an evaluation programme on the two types of Bridgestone tyre and gathered sufficient data to have a good idea about tyre choice as well as acquiring information for car set-up. After Rubens' accident this morning, we chose to keep Michael in the garage while we investigated the cause of the crash."

Michael Schumacher 1st
1:13.548 34 laps
chassis n° 223

Rubens Barrichello - 1 lap
chassis n° 224

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