Minardi was pleased with its efforts in Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, after Mark Webber finished up eighteenth and Alex Yoong was twenty-second. It was both drivers first taste of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"We made good progress today although I didn't get the best lap when we ran new tyres this afternoon," Webber commented in a press release.

"The car is generally running well, and the guys did a good job between sessions sorting a couple of small problems. I like the track and am looking forward to it tomorrow."

Yoong spent the day working on set-up for the race. "It was a useful session for us. The car ran reliably and we put in a lot of laps, which is good," he remarked.

"Now we are going to have to try and decide what tyres to use tomorrow, because the set we thought was going to be quicker turned out not to be. We tried some new suspension settings, which changed the car, but it's still not quite right. There is a bit more left to come."

Team principal Paul Stoddart added: "Today the drivers completed a large number of laps and recorded very respectable times at a circuit neither had been on before.

"Despite small technical problems on Mark's car at the end of the second session both completed their scheduled programmes for the day. We're hopeful for a similarly positive outcome tomorrow."