Improved Performance As Schumacher Takes 2nd


By DCX
May 27 2005

Ferrari was back up to pace during free practice for the European Grand Prix as Michael Schumacher took the 2nd fastest time. Rubens Barrichello also had an improved day with a best result of 5th during the first session. Badoer Prepares Ferrari

Improved Performance As Schumacher Takes 2nd

DCX
Michael Schumacher
FP 1: 2nd - 1'32.578
FP 2: 13th - 1'33.242

The Monaco Grand Prix was met with an onslaught of what ifs. Especially, what if Michael Schumacher had not been held up by the crashing Minardi? We will never know the answer to that question but the question whether Schumacher and Ferrari could improve was answered today. Schumacher put in strong performance in the first free practice session to claim the second fastest time. Unfortunately an electrical problem sent him backwards in the second session. Here is what the 7-Time World Champion had to say about his first day In Germany:

“In performance terms, it looks quite good so far, as we are not so far off the times of the quickest guys, not counting the Friday-only drivers, so generally I would say it is going well this weekend. It’s a shame I had an electrical problem. It was nothing major, but there was not enough time to fix it before the end of the session. But we have enough data from Rubens’ car on which to base our decisions regarding set-up and especially which way to go on tyre choice.”

Rubens Barrichello
FP 1: 5th - 1'32.984
FP 2: 7th - 1.32.143

Rubens Barrichello came out of Monaco with only one point, which was nothing to shout about. Rubens has been in the middle of the field all year so far and while Bridgestone is partially to blame, he just isn't performing well enough. This fact was highlighted today at the European Grand Prix as he put in two relatively decent times, but nothing stellar. Here is what the Brazilian had to say after his first day:

“Today, the situation looks much better than in recent races and there is no doubt that the Nürburgring suits us better than Monaco. We seem to be pretty quick here, whatever the fuel load. I think we can be very strong this weekend, but it is still too early to see where we stand compared to the others. Bridgestone has done a good job and the tyres are performing consistently.”

Ross Brawn
Technical Director

Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn was quite confident after seeing a much improved performance from Ferrari today in Germany.

“A good day in general. The cars seem to be well balanced and the tyres are performing consistently over the first lap. We had an electrical problem on Michael’s car, which we have yet to analyze. It meant we lost the second half of the afternoon session, which was a shame. However, we got some good work done on the tyre front and now we can analyze the data tonight to decide on which type of tyre to use for qualifying and the race.”

May 27, 2005

Think Ferrari can turn things around in Germany? Then make your feelings known on the Ferrari 1 Message Board.

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