Formula One news

McLaren positive despite ninth and twelfth

McLaren drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen finished today's practice sessions for the San Marino Grand Prix in ninth and 12th positions respectively. Juan Pablo set a time of 1:26.334 and completed a total of 15 laps whilst Kimi's time was 1:26.500 and he completed 20 laps. 

"So far so good, and we achieved everything we needed," Montoya said. "I did two short runs just to check the balance and then a long run to evaluate our Michelin tyres and all went well. I was stuck in traffic on what was meant to be a fast run, but that is life. We have a couple of new things here which seem to be working and the car feels good. I'm not too keen on the new chicane, but overall I'm quite pleased."

Raikkonen commented, "Everything went well, so it's a good start to the weekend. We spent our time working on the set-up and evaluating our Michelin tyres, and I'm pretty confident. The weather is a bit warmer than normal at Imola, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend. I think we have a good package, and we should be able to do well."

Team chief Ron Dennis added, "Two uneventful but productive practice sessions where we conserved our equipment but still gained a lot of information which we will evaluate overnight. Both Juan Pablo and Kimi went through their planned programmes, and we are definitely heading in the right direction."

Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug concluded, "We concentrated on going through our planned programme, and we are quite happy with the lap times so far."

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