Both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both said how pleased they were to get back out onto the streets of Monaco once again on a slightly disrupted day of free practice in the famous principality.
Rain reduced the amount of meaningful running the team could do in the afternoon session, but Rosberg still finished the day sixth on the timesheets with 29 laps under his belt. Schumacher was ninth at the end of the day after completing the same number of laps.
“It was great to be back again and to race through the city,” said Rosberg. “I’m pleased with today’s practice sessions. We have the feeling that we are going in the right direction with our set-up work for this demanding track. It took a bit of a time to find the right rhythm for the circuit but it worked out well, even though we did not run very much in the afternoon because of the bad weather. I’m now really looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.”
Schumacher is still optimistic of a good race this weekend, despite the five-place grid penalty that he earned after crashing into Bruno Senna a fortnight ago in Barcelona.
“It’s always great to get out on the track for the first laps in Monaco and get back into the rhythm of this special place,” said the five-time winner of this race. “Already, during practice this morning I could see the areas where the safety has been improved further since last year, and it’s great that the organisers always push to make things even better every year.
“The weather was mixed today, which made it hard to make any firm conclusions, but basically my feeling with the car on this circuit was positive.”
Mercedes team prinicpal Ross Brawn was also in a positive mood after the day’s running:
“We’ve had a reasonable first day here in Monaco,” he said. “Obviously, this is a track where conditions are changing all the time and the wet weather in the second session this afternoon reminds us that these things can happen here. We have a lot of information to look at and work out what we’re going to do and how we think the circuit will evolve for Saturday. Generally, it’s been a good start to the weekend.”
“We’ve had a reasonable first day here in Monaco. Obviously, this is a track where conditions are changing all the time and the wet weather in the second session this afternoon reminds us that these things can happen here. We have a lot of information to look at and work out what we’re going to do and how we think the circuit will evolve for Saturday. Generally, it’s been a good start to the weekend.”