Ron Dennis said on Friday that his team had made a mistake in using a second set of wet tyres on Lewis Hamilton's car in morning free practice. He stressed however that the new set was used only on one installation lap and had been of no benefit. The action, however, led to Hamilton being summoned by the stewards.
The following is the team statement after the practice esssions which saw the team post the fastest times.
FERNANDO ALONSO
"The session this afternoon was far better than this morning. We did not expect it to stay wet for the rest of the weekend so took the decision not to do any running in the morning as we wouldn’t achieve any conclusive results on set-up and tyre comparison work. Also there is a new track surface here and as a result it was very slippery. However by this afternoon the track had dried out, and it was clear that the conditions were improving. I am looking forward to a competitive weekend."
LEWIS HAMILTON
"I enjoyed finally getting out on this amazing track, it was just a shame that the conditions were not great this morning, and we couldn’t really do as much running as we would have preferred. However, it was good to get a feel for the track, and we made reasonable progress on the set-up work and tyre comparison despite the cold conditions."
RON DENNIS
"A positive afternoon session with both drivers setting consistent times and working through the planned programme. Unfortunately the morning session was dominated by the poor weather and we restricted the running accordingly. Despite topping the timesheets, today has not been perfect for us as we made a mistake in this morning’s session and used one set of tyres too many on Lewis’s car. This was unfortunate and clearly did not provide any advantage. However we must now wait on the Stewards’ decision later this afternoon."
NORBERT HAUG
"The times are very close, with Lewis and Fernando being quickest on a drying track in the second session. The wet conditions in the morning session prevented us from any useful running, so it is too early to say exactly where we are compared to our competitors."
The following is the team statement after the practice esssions which saw the team post the fastest times.
FERNANDO ALONSO
"The session this afternoon was far better than this morning. We did not expect it to stay wet for the rest of the weekend so took the decision not to do any running in the morning as we wouldn’t achieve any conclusive results on set-up and tyre comparison work. Also there is a new track surface here and as a result it was very slippery. However by this afternoon the track had dried out, and it was clear that the conditions were improving. I am looking forward to a competitive weekend."
LEWIS HAMILTON
"I enjoyed finally getting out on this amazing track, it was just a shame that the conditions were not great this morning, and we couldn’t really do as much running as we would have preferred. However, it was good to get a feel for the track, and we made reasonable progress on the set-up work and tyre comparison despite the cold conditions."
RON DENNIS
"A positive afternoon session with both drivers setting consistent times and working through the planned programme. Unfortunately the morning session was dominated by the poor weather and we restricted the running accordingly. Despite topping the timesheets, today has not been perfect for us as we made a mistake in this morning’s session and used one set of tyres too many on Lewis’s car. This was unfortunate and clearly did not provide any advantage. However we must now wait on the Stewards’ decision later this afternoon."
NORBERT HAUG
"The times are very close, with Lewis and Fernando being quickest on a drying track in the second session. The wet conditions in the morning session prevented us from any useful running, so it is too early to say exactly where we are compared to our competitors."