US GP: Williams Friday notes

In the first Free Practice sessions for the 2002 US Grand Prix in Indianapolis, Ralf Schumacher completed 37 laps whereas team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya could only achieve 26 laps due to an engine problem. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers finished respectively in 10th and 16th positions.

Ralf Schmacher: 10th

"We have done a lot of work today. As usual on a Friday we were a bit conservative and concentrated on race set-up instead of trying to get a good time in. We think we have also made our tyre choice. The track was very slippery, therefore several drivers spun. In the first hour, when the track was still a bit damp in some places, I went off and slid backwards taking off my rear wing in the process."

Juan Pablo Montoya: 16th

"I was hoping for a better free practice session today, as a start to my US GP weekend. The balance of my car is not still ideal but we have collected valuable data to solve the problems. During the second session I felt my engine was sounding strange so I went back to the pits. The team tried to address the problem and then they let me out again to see if it had improved but this wasn't the case so I had to pull aside on my out lap."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"We had a difficult day in terms of looking for the set-up for the race. We made some progress but not enough so we have quite a bit of work to do for Sunday. However we collected a lot of information and we know what the problem with the balance of the car is. As usual on a Friday we tried different downforce levels as well as the two types of tyre Michelin has brought here. We are pretty sure which tyre we are going to use."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Everything went according to plan with Ralf and we completed our scheduled programme. Juan Pablo reported a strange noise in his engine during the second session. We checked the data and we did a borescope examination, which allowed us to examine every cylinder with a camera drill. We could not find any anomalies and therefore Juan continued his training but the problem was clearly still there and he had to switch off the engine."

-williams-