Friday March 10th, 2000

Ferrari

Michael Schumacher: For the moment, we are fastest and I am pleased that we are on the pace which is a good sign. As for my accident, the car just got away from me and I lost control. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for me to go. I am fine and did not hurt myself. We improved the car between the two halves of the session and we know how to make further progress for tomorrow. Despite the incident, we have fulfilled our expectations.

Rubens Barrichello: I am happy with my first day's work at a race with Ferrari. It was satisfying because the car is on the pace. All the work we did in Mugello paid off, because we have arrived here very well prepared. There is still more work to do but today we have developed the car further. When I went out on the track, I immediately could feel the car was well balanced. My one set of tyres lasted well through the whole session. It was an emotional moment for me, seeing so many Brazilian flags in the crowd, when I went out for my first lap.

Jean Todt: The performance level of our cars today was encouraging. We worked mainly on race set-up. We have seen today that in performance terms the F1-2000 is better than last year's F399. I think that tomorrow we will be in a position to fight for the front row places. I got a fright when Michael went off, but luckily it quickly became apparent that he was fine. Now we must check on the condition of the chassis.

McLaren

David Coulthard: It's been a busy day. We have gone through a normal free practice programme and worked on finding the ultimate set-up for the circuit and the conditions. I had a bit of a spin when I lost the rear but no damage was done.

Mika Hakkinen: Today's performance is a good start to the season. I'm very happy with the balance of the car and the work we have done today. We experienced no technical problems in either session, which meant we could concentrate 100 percent on finding the right set-up for the rest of the weekend.

Ron Dennis: The afternoon session for David was more productive than for Mika. Both cars ran reliably throughout the day but neither was at its optimum and therefore in the circumstances the lap times are not so bad.

BAR

Jacques Villeneuve: To be honest, I'm a little surprised that we're as well up the times as we are, but the car is working well here and basically had a good balance right from the start. I'm pleased that we are finally ready to start the new season and we can start to fight for some good results. It says something for the progress the team has made that we are behind only the Ferraris and the McLarens. Now we will see what tomorrow holds.

Craig Pollock: Our positions today say a lot about the amount of work the team has put in over the winter months. The fact that Jacques and Ricardo have posted times within 0.3s of one another also shows we are there or thereabouts. It is extremely difficult in pre-season testing to get a feel for where you are in relation to the other teams since you never know in exactly what specification they are running their cars. In any event, today's performance makes for a good start to the season.

Sauber

Pedro Diniz: The car felt good today, and as practice went on, we made good progress. I still had a bit too much understeer for my liking, but the traction is good and we will be working hard overnight to analyse ways to make the balance better.

Jordan

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: "I had a good trouble free session working on all the things we wanted to test so I am quite satisfied with how that went. We completed 35 laps which has given us some good information to work on for tomorrow."

Jarno Trulli: "Today was very disappointing for me as I lost a lot of time of the track because of various problems. I lost the whole of the first session because of an oil leak in the gearbox and in the afternoon session I had a problem with the gearbox and the clutch. It meant I have not been able to work on the balance of the car as much as I would have liked. But I do have some data to work on this evening and this will help us decide what we need to work on tomorrow morning."

Benetton

Alexander Wurz: "This was a good first Friday of the season for me. We didn't have any major problems with the car so we were able to concentrate on set-up in both sessions. We need to find more grip and the rear is a little unstable. The circuit conditions improved during the day as more rubber went down but this meant the tyres went down quicker and also the temperature increased so this made it quite hard to see what the changes were."

Giancarlo Fisichella: "We have tried lots of different things with the set-up today and we have taken a big step forward since this morning. This morning the circuit was very slippery and quite dirty so it was hard to get a clear idea of the car's performance but this improved in the afternoon session. I am fairly happy with the balance and we have managed to find more grip in the second session, but ideally we need to find more."

Pat Symonds, Technical Director: "It is nice to be back in competition again eventhough, as always, for the first session of the year it is quite difficult adapting to the new conditions. In general the cars ran very well today and we did some good solid work. Initially the balance wasn't great and we seemed to suffer from a lack of grip before the circuit rubbered in, but towards the end of the session the engineers and drivers had managed to get a reasonable compromise."

Jaguar

Eddie Irvine: "We've got lots of different problems in different areas. There are clutch problems, there are handling problems, and a couple of engine problems. We just need more time. The top four is what you'd expect to see. It's going to be very close and very competitive behind them. It's not going to be so easy to finished third, fourth or fifth this year."

Johnny Herbert: "It's frustrating, but the laps I've done have been good. The very first run was on a dirty track, but on the only run I did this afternoon the car wasn't bad at all, although I had to ease off because Michael (Schumacher) was in the barriers. I'm actually quite pleased with it from that point of view. So I'm happy in one way, but damn frustrated that we didn't get to do many laps."

Paul Stewart: "The difficulties we are encountering today are consistent with what we've seen in testing. It's not overly surprising, but I think there's a basic pace in the car. We've just got to make sure we get it right for tomorrow's session."

Minardi

Gaston Mazzacane: "I was fairly excited today and I had reckoned on committing also a few mistakes but when I took to the track I felt calmer and I was able to drive with much more concentration. More importantly, the car helped me a lot as it proved to be very reliable. I managed to run trouble free and this helped me to learn the circuit. I'm delighted with this first day as a newcomer. It is only the first day, I am confident but I prefer to be cautious and see what will happen tomorrow."

Marc Gene: "The car has definitely improved compared to last year's car. During the first session I drove troublefree and I was pretty satisfied with the set-up. In the second free practice session I missed the first half an hour due to a few minor concerns. As a result the modifications on my car were less satisfying than the first session. However, today's work showed us the right direction for tomorrow and I believe it has been better to detect these setbacks on Friday rather than on Saturday."

Giancarlo Minardi: "Today's first free practice session started our sixteenth season for the Team and it began in a very positive way. Gast?n made a promising debut as he turned out to be the best newcomer. Also Marc did a good job on the car today and I believe that today's first timed practice confirmed the potential of the Team that we had already seen during the winter tests."

Arrows

Pedro de la Rosa: "We didn't get out to do the last run due to a water leak from the radiator, so missed being on the track at the end of the session when the quickest lap times could have been made. I am pretty happy though to have done that time with old tyres that had already done 30 laps. We are already quicker than qualifying last year and this is a track that picks up the grip during the weekend. The car is good and I happy about how we have improved it from the early morning runs."

Jos Verstappen: "I think it was a pleasant day, especially for me to start again as I have not been here since 1997 and had to get used to the circuit again. The car really felt very good. The only small problem was with the brakes in the second session, so we changed the calipers. I think if you look at the split times we are up there. I was fastest in one of the sections so it means tomorrow should be pretty good."

Tom Walkinshaw: "As I have always said this is the first true test for every team. Pedro will be able to put to good use what he learned during last year and I knew Jos would be back in the grove very quickly. I think I shall keep my comments on our performance until I see where we are at 2pm tomorrow."

Williams

Ralf Schumacher: "In the first hour I was quite happy with the balance of the car. Unfortunately we had an oil leak at the beginning of the second session which prevented me from completing more than six timed laps. So far I am optimistic for tomorrow."

Jenson Button: "My first free practice session in F1 went well. I like this circuit, especially the first corner. With regards to my very first lap, I must say it was a bit scary, because there was a lot of dust on the track and it was a bit slippery."

Patrick Head, Technical Director: "Ralf was looking in quite good shape but then we had what looks like an oil leak. We were unable to get to it in a way that would allow us to get him out again so he has done very few laps and his times reflect that."

Prost

Jean Alesi: "Clearly, this is not the kind of first day of the Championship to give us any pleasure as one can see in our performances. But you have to start somewhere and it is our job now to work very hard to solve the problems we have found in order to finish our preparations. We have to find the right way to work with the car and then we can quickly find our true level."

Nick Heidfeld: "I started this day with a lot of optimism and without too much pressure. Unfortunately this morning we had a slight braking problem and then I went off after I had done only seven laps. This afternoon we made several set-up modifications, which gave us an appreciable improvement, but the car remained very unstable, caused by the nervous back end."

Alain Prost: "Obviously it is difficult to arrive at the first Grand Prix and to be punished for our lack of preparation. As we expected, this opening day of practice has been, for us, a first true test of the car. We have launched into work on the points we had not been able to deal with before. This session was interrupted by a series of little problems that prevented us from completing a full program of work. But in any case, we have to wait until tomorrow to see the competitiveness of our car."