ISTANBUL, 20 August 2005 — Title challengers McLaren looked ominously quick when the wail of Formula One engines echoed around Istanbul’s new circuit for the first time yesterday.
Toyota and Brazilian test driver Ricardo Zonta achieved the fastest lap after the first day of practice for tomorrow’s inaugural Turkish Grand Prix, but McLaren filled the next three slots.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen were the quickest race drivers.
Spanish tester Pedro de la Rosa, who will not compete on Sunday, was top of the timesheets in the morning and second on a cloudy afternoon with a few spots of rain.
Zonta’s fastest lap was timed at one minute 25.583 seconds, with De la Rosa 0.613 slower.
Raikkonen, winner of the last race in Hungary, is 26 points adrift of Renault’s championship leader Fernando Alonso with six rounds remaining. Renault lead McLaren by 12 points in the constructors’ championship.
“The new track is quite interesting and my first impressions are positive,” said Raikkonen. “It was a bit slippery out there particularly as there was a little bit of rain which seemed to affect the grip levels a lot.
“But I think we are in good shape.”
Alonso, chasing his seventh win of a season that could crown him the youngest champion in Formula One history, was seventh in both sessions after doing a total of 38 laps.
“My first impression is that the track is a really good challenge,” said the Spaniard. “It is quite hard to find the right line through the corners and it is not easy to learn.” Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher and Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello spun off in the first hour of action on the undulating anti-clockwise layout.
Schumacher said there was still a lot to do while Barrichello was unable to find the right balance.
De la Rosa brought the first session to a halt when his car came to a stop on the track with a fuel pickup problem with 11 minutes remaining in the morning.
Australian Mark Webber was a surprising third quickest for Williams in the opening session while Briton Jenson Button was fifth fastest in both sessions in his BAR.
Drivers have praised the circuit as a real challenge and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone joined in the enthusiasm on Friday. “Everything’s good, everybody’s happy. It’s a proper race circuit.
“I’m very pleased with what has happened in the end. When I first came here it was just fields,” said the 74-year-old Briton.
“We came in a Range Rover and got stuck trying to get here. There were no roads, nothing. I was just looking for something where we wouldn’t get a normal flat circuit, we’d get something a little bit more exciting — which is what we’ve got.” Both Sauber drivers, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and Brazilian Felipe Massa, made a costly start to the weekend by collecting fines for exceeding the pit lane speed limit.
Villeneuve, who was clocked at 87.2 kph, was fined $7,000, Massa $1,250 for doing 64.3.
