Schumacher's Home Race Starts with P1 in Practice
By Ferrari Press Release
July 23 2004
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished 1st and 9th respectively after today´s first practice sessions for the German Grand Prix.
Friday, Free Practice 1:
| Driver | Position | Best Time | Laps |
| M. Schumacher | 2 | 1:15.864 | 11 |
| R. Barrichello | 7 | 1:16.493 | 16 |
Friday, Free Practice 2:
| Driver | Position | Best Time | Laps |
| M. Schumacher | 1 | 1:15.001 | 27 |
| R. Barrichello | 9 | 1:15.738 | 19 |
Michael Schumacher (Driver):
"Friday in Hockenheim has been quite pleasant. We worked well on the car and had clean runs, helped by the fact that right from the start of this morning's session, we had a good baseline in terms of car set-up. I am quite happy with the overall situation. I think today was a good preparation for tomorrow and Sunday's race, which I am looking forward to."
Rubens Barrichello (Driver):
"It was a tough day for me with a few problems – even the radio was not working for a while! We now have to look at the set-up of the car and I am confident that after working tonight with my engineers, we will have a much better day tomorrow."
Ross Brawn (Technical Director):
"Tyres are definitely going to be the key factor over the course of this weekend. The track temperature was very high today and we already have a strong indication of which type of tyre we want to race with here. Michael made good progress with his car while Rubens was not quite so happy, particularly on the braking side, so we have some work to do tonight. However, it is pleasing to see that we look competitive in these hot conditions."
Jean Todt (General Director):
"The heat was an important factor today and as usual, the team worked on the comparison between the two types of tyre at our disposal. From what we can see, yet again, Bridgestone has done an excellent job, as has Shell, who have supplied us with a new fuel for this race, which ensures we can get more power out of the engine. Germany is Ferrari's second biggest market after the United States and this morning, I had the opportunity to visit Ferrari Deutschland's headquarters in Wiesbaden."