Free Practice in Hungary

Jordan Ford experience a relatively trouble free practice day at Hungaroring ahead of this weekends Grand Prix.  Heidfeld, Pantano and Glock collectively completed a total of 98 laps on the 4.381km long circuit, and were positive ahead of tomorrow qualifying session.

Nick Heidfeld said “It was a good day for us because we didn’t have any technical problems and that allowed us to do a lot of laps.  It was also very productive for us in terms of trying various things on the car.  Plus, in terms of our positions on the timing charts it’s a better Friday for us.”

Timo Glock stated “First practice was quite good for me, and I learnt the track fairly quickly.  I did some tyre comparisons and it was interesting to see the difference between the two sessions as the feel was completely different in the afternoon, which makes it a little bit difficult to choose the right tyre.  We will have to look at the information and discuss with the other drivers’ feedback.   The last run was good for me although I lost time at the first corner braking zone, other than that the lap time was okay and I was satisfied that we all did a good job.”

Giorgio Pantano commented “This afternoon we found our tyre comparison work a little bit strange given the changing grip conditions.  We need to understand why this was so we can decide the limits of our car and tyre package at this track and which way to go for the race.”

James Robinson, Head of Race and Test Engineering explained “It’s great to be back racing - after a three week break you tend to miss it so it’s really good to be back on top of that, we had a good, solid start to our first day.  We have two very strong tyre choices from Bridgestone and it’s difficult to know which of them to go with as they both offer great performance.  We had no mechanical problems at all and completed a good reliable day’s homework.  We also saw a solid days work from Timo, this being his first experience of this unique track.”

Driver Team Time
Raikkonen McLaren 1.20.884
M Schumacher Ferrari 1.21.009
Montoya Williams 1.21.185
Coulthard McLaren 1.21.203
Panis Toyota 1.21.352
Sato BAR 1.21.364
Pizzonia Williams 1.21.574
Button BAR 1.21.685
Barrichello Ferrari 1.21.712
Alonso Renault 1.21.948
Webber Jaguar Racing 1.21.999
Davidson BAR 1.22.356
Wirdheim Jaguar Racing 1.22.559
Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1.22.651
Glock Jordan Ford 1.22.697
Fisichella Sauber 1.22.743
Trulli Renault 1.22.788
Zonta Toyota 1.22.808
Pantano Jordan Ford 1.22.937
Klien Jaguar Racing 1.23.003
Briscoe Toyota 1.23.170
Massa Sauber 1.23.188
Leinders Minardi 1.25.339
Baumgartner Minardi 1.25.450
Bruni Minardi 1.26.365

13 Aug 2004 15:44