McLaren satisfied after two close practice sessions

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were second and fourth respectively in Friday’s free practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, the penultimate round of the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship. In the afternoon, Fernando completed 28 laps and put in a time of 1min36.613. Lewis did 33 laps and set a best time of 1min36.876. In the morning session, Fernando was second with 1min37.108 (18 laps) whilst Lewis was fourth with 1min37.210 (20 laps).

Fernando Alonso "A very close practice session, with no problems throughout. As usual we worked on our set-up in the morning and made some good progress there, and then in the afternoon we concentrated on the tyre comparison. It is good to be back in China as I like this circuit. I expect it should be a very interesting weekend with the top four cars being very competitive here."

Lewis Hamilton "Both sessions went pretty smoothly, and I was able to get a good handle on this circuit, the sixth new one for me this year and completed the planned programme for today. It is a nice track, and the car felt good to drive. I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend where I expect that we have every chance for another strong result."

Ron Dennis "A trouble free two sessions, where we made good progress on the set up of the cars. The times have been close and consistent, so we will have to look to see where we may be able to gain an advantage over our main competitiors over night. However we are happy with the performance so far and expect to be competitive all weekend."

Norbert Haug "As usual the first four are close together. Today we have done what had been planned, and the basis for a good result is there."