McLaren

Mika Hakkinen: "Today has been the hottest day so far this year and it has been interesting to work with the car in these conditions. It has been good to see how the tyres work in these temperatures and we have worked hard on improving the handling of the car throughout both practice sessions. I am looking forward to tomorrow's practice and qualifying."

David Coulthard: "I am happy with my progress today despite loosing some time this morning with an alternator problem. We seem to be on the right track and I think tomorrow's qualifying will be an interesting session."

Ron Dennis: "David lost some time in first session with an alternator fault. Apart from that, both drivers had a trouble free day. Neither car is yet optimised but we are moving in the right direction and as always it is all about Saturday afternoon."

Norbert Haug: "A good beginning of the weekend for us. Everything ran according to plan. Tomorrow we will work for a good qualifying time."

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine: "We have reverted to a set-up which is similar to the one we used in Australia and the car is much better. I feel I can really push it again and I enjoyed myself on the track today. I tried three different set ups and I know which one to use now. I only used one set of tyres all day, so there is more to come. We have closed the gap to the quickest, but I think the second row is my realistic target in qualifying. I will try the new front wing tomorrow."

Michael Schumacher: "I did not get through all my programme today, because the right rear tyre lost pressure as a result of a hole in the rim. This was probably caused by a stone caught between the brake caliper and the rim. Apart from that, I am quite satisfied with today's session, as the car performed reasonably well. I think we are in better shape here in Imola, than at the last race, but of course on Friday it is difficult to have a clear picture of the true situation."

Jean Todt: "Today we went about our usual Friday work. Michael used the new front wing which we tested yesterday at Fiorano. The situation looks positive, given the configuration we ran in today. But of course we do not know what our main rivals were doing. We still have to fine tune our set up, particularly on Schumacher's car. Michael's car stopped on the track with a right rear wheel failure after some debris holed the rim."

Jordan

Damon Hill: "I am very pleased with fourth place and am confident we can go faster tomorrow. I feel happy with the car; the balance is continually improving, and by the end of today's sessions, it felt very good. I would be very happy if I could do the same tomorrow. We are continuing to close the gap on our competitors."

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: "We had a problem this morning with the balance and it took some time to move back to the balance which works better. We fixed things but did not get time to do enough running so I was not able to post a fast time. But I am not worried about it as we know what we need to do and it will be fine tomorrow."

BAR

Jacques Villeneuve: "We've started well. It's a lot better than the last Grand Prix so we are going to try and keep it up. The car seemed to work well right away and the speed is a lot better. I was quite happy with the set up we found and the balance of the car is pretty good. We are up where we should be fighting. But, let's wait until tomorrow."

Mika Salo: "Everything went fine today except for a problem with the fuel pressure. I don't think it's going to be a big problem tomorrow, in fact I think we will be very quick. I think there is a possibility that we will be in top ten tomorrow."

Craig Pollock: "Coming out of Brazil, where the whole team deserved to feel a little bit down, today has been a fantastic uplift because it's proof that the hard work that has been put in since the last Grand Prix is paying off and the speed that we did lack in Brazil is coming back. Jacques has done a great job with Jock Clear and the team. I think that Mika, coming in for the first time, has been hampered by mechanical problems with the car. In spite of this has done a great time in his first session with us."