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Barcelona 04

Gran Premio Marlboro de España

09/05/2004

07/05/2004

As Usual For Ferrari

Jean Todt:
"As usual on the first day of the weekend, we have worked on set-up and tyre choice. Even though the Catalunya circuit is one of the most popular tracks for testing, there is always work to do to get the most out of the car. We know we will be competitive, but just how much when compared to our rivals depends on many factors and we won't have the final answer until the end of Sunday's race. We know we can expect a closely contested grand prix and along with our partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell, we will try and exploit the full potential of our package."

Michael Schumacher:
"Today could be described as a standard Friday in Barcelona. We worked on fine tuning the set-up with reasonable success. As usual, we worked on assessing the two types of Bridgestone tyre and we think they have come up with a good compound choice for us, so I am looking forward to being competitive over the rest of the weekend."

Rubens Barrichello:
"I had a normal day, divided between finding the right set up and choosing between the two type of tyre at our disposal. Having done so many kilometres here over the past months we have a good starting point for our set-up and today we made further steps forward, adapting it to the current track conditions without experience any sort of problem. I think we still have much to do to get the most out of the package and I think we will be very competitive tomorrow."

Ross Brawn:
"Obviously, we spent today preparing for the race, especially in terms of assessing the two types of Bridgestone at our disposal. First impressions are that one type of tyre is quicker on the first lap, while the second type offers more consistent performance over a longer run. Now we have to study the data very carefully to make the right choice. We know how important it is to qualify well here where overtaking is very difficult. Starting from the front means you run less risk of being stuck behind a slower car. Both drivers reckoned they were satisfied with the performance of their F2004."