Eddie Irvine denied today comments attributed to him in the Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana. Attending the Thursday Five FIA press conference, Irvine was asked about his comments regarding Michael Schumacher ("He's the fastest. With equal cars no one can beat him. But speed is not enough. You need to avoid mistakes and he makes a lot. Too many."). However, the Irishman completely disowned these quotes, as well as other quotes about Ferrari, saying: "Once again this is all made up. Obviously I never said those things."

Irvine was also asked about the speculations that he has signed with Jaguar-Ford for next year. He did not deny this, but said: "I am really focused on this weekend. Next year is a long time away."

Also attending the press conference was McLaren's Mika Hakkinen, who came back from a week's holiday on a cruise off Corsica and Sardinia. "After what happened in the last race, I deserved a little holiday," he said. "It's been obviously very hard, what's been happening in the last three races. It's been very difficult and very challenging psychologically, but we feel we are still very strong."