10.09.2004 "It is great to be here in Monza in front of our fans, having already achieved our objective of winning both titles" Ferrari Friday practice report from Monza

Jean Todt: 'It is great to be here in Monza in front of our fans, having already achieved our objective of winning both titles.

'However, our will to win is as strong as ever. Last week’s test produced useful data which led us to believe that our car, engine, Bridgestone tyre package should be competitive over the race weekend and today’s practice has confirmed that.

'In order to interpret today’s results we have to take into account the different programmes undertaken by the various teams.

'For our part, we concentrated mainly on the race, working on set-up and comparison of the two types of Bridgestone tyre available.

'The F2004 is fitted with a further evolution of the 053 engine, validated last week, with significant support from Shell in terms of defining the fuel and lubricants.

'I think it will be a close fight both tomorrow and in the race and we should be on the pace.'

Michael Schumacher: 'It is always nice to race in front of our tifosi and so I am happy to be back at Monza again after two days of testing last week. We hope to put on a good show for all the fans who will be here to celebrate our recent winning of both titles.

'The colours of the Italian flag on my helmet is a small thank you to Italian Ferrari fans for all their support in the bad times as well as the good.'

Rubens Barrichello: 'The fight for first place this weekend will be decided by thousandths of a second. From what we have seen today, we seem to be competitive. But we need to work very hard and concentrate to make sure we get the most out of our package. The F2004 went quite well in these two hours of free practice, confirming what we found at last week’s test. I would like to give our tifosi another opportunity to celebrate on Sunday afternoon.'

Ross Brawn: 'It was a straightforward Friday without any real problems. The cars went well and we managed to fine tune the set-up based on the data acquired last week. Both drivers were happy with the work we did. We were able to do a series of runs to evaluate the behaviour of the Bridgestone tyres over a number of laps.

'As expected, the softer one seems to be quickest on the first lap, but a little less consistent overall. Now we have to look at the data along with the various strategies available to us to make the best choice for qualifying and for the race.'

Free practice - First session, Michael Schumacher: 1st 1.20.526 10 laps chassis 239, Rubens Barrichello: 2nd 1.20.861 4 laps chassis 240, Temperatures: air 24/26 °C, track 29/35 °C

Free practice – Second session, Rubens Barrichello: 2nd 1.20.899 21 laps chassis 240, Michael Schumacher: 3rd 1.21.080 20 laps chassis 239, Temperatures: air 27 °C, track 37 °C