The uninterrupted rain which has fallen over Silverstone today has been the main protagonist of the opening day of the British Grand Prix. The 90 minutes of practice sessions have been a constant challenge for the drivers and teams who were torn between running and taking a pass on the hazardous track which accumulated substantial amounts of water in some areas. Dani Clos, who joined Pedro de la Rosa in the first session, did a good job in wet and tricky conditions in his second opportunity at the wheel of the F112. In the afternoon, Narain Karthikeyan returned to the wheel of car number 23 but both him and teammate de la Rosa remained in the garage until there were 30 minutes to go in FP2 when it seemed like the conditions were improving. A red flag impeded them from coming out and, whilst de la Rosa decided to call an end to the session, Karthikeyan waited for the session to re-start to get a short but useful first taste of the track this weekend.

Pedro de la Rosa: "This morning we ran in wet conditions and tested everything we wanted to do, so in the second session we didn't feel the need to take a risk since the conditions weren't the best and, besides, we've only got three sets of extreme wet tyres for the entire weekend. That's why we decided not to come out. Ahead of tomorrow's qualifying, if we face the same conditions, the important thing is to complete a clean lap, with no traffic, and not much water on track. Today we acclimatised to Silverstone in wet conditions and that was the objective."

Narain Karthikeyan: "Today we faced typical English weather; it was a complete wash out and, as a result, we didn't complete any meaningful running. The new part of the track, which is made up of turns 1 to 5, is new to me because I didn't race here last year so we need to make sure that we get some running in before qualifying. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have the chance to do these miles to head into qualifying better prepared, where I'll be aiming to back up my good performance in Valencia."

Dani Clos: "I'm very happy to have driven the F112 again and because we completed a good session despite the rain. We drew some positive conclusions and, personally, I enjoyed it inside the car. The most important thing is that I've continued to rack up some miles in a Formula 1 car and did so in different conditions. I improved with every lap, whilst the track got worst. The team did a great job and I'm very satisfied."

Luis Perez-Sala, Team Principal: "It's been a complicated day because the track was very wet and, for us it was not easy at all because we really suffer in these conditions. Dani got into the car for the second time and did a good job. Narain also did a good job in the afternoon as he returned to his car and felt comfortable immediately at a track where he didn't race last year. Pedro didn't run in the afternoon but his laps in the morning were enough for what they wanted to test on the car so we could say it was mission accomplished and now we must think about tomorrow."

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