“Having tested here recently, we were aware of what areas of our investigations needed completing, and looking at the times of some of our competitors, it seems that they were in a similar situation. Our focus has obviously been on race preparation, and the balance of the cars is normal for a Friday.”
Denis Chevrier [Renault – head of engine track operations]:
“Our test engines today had a similar risk to the one that broke in the last race at Magny-Cours, so the engine problem for Fernando is something we were already aware of and had identified, and that is going to help our understanding of the problem that is affecting us at the moment. However, for the race engines we have already taken a number of precautions, and we are therefore not particularly worried for the race this weekend.”
Sam Michael [Williams – technical director]:
“We worked through our normal checks on tyres, and also carried out some set-up tests after feedback from the test here last week. We didn't experience any mechanical problems on the cars, but Kazuki unfortunately had an excursion in the second practice session and that meant he missed about 20 minutes of running. We now have some work to do overnight to be ready for qualifying tomorrow.”
Steve Clark [Honda – head of race and test engineering]:
“Rubens had a rear suspension failure at the start of the first practice session. We therefore took the precaution of keeping Jenson's car in the garage until we had fully investigated the issue. The part in question is not a new design nor is it a high-mileage component, so the failure was quite unusual.
“Whilst tests are ongoing back at the factory, we have confirmed that the design has a generous safety margin. For the second session, we fitted new parts to both cars which have undergone a repeat of the quality control processes at the factory.
“We are confident that the new parts that we have on the car following last week's test have improved our performance. It is difficult to assess this against our competitors today as different fuel strategies will have been in place, therefore we would need a dry qualifying to really provide the answer. However, having both cars in the top ten at the end of today would suggest that we have made a genuinely positive step.
“The latest information is that rain is certain for Saturday and Sunday. Qualifying in the wet is a challenge, as the track conditions are constantly changing and it opens up the possibility that quicker cars may fall out in the early sessions, creating a mixed-up grid which would make for an exciting race.
