(Renault Sport F1)
Infiniti Red Bull Racing go into this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix having ended today both Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in the top six in both Free Practice sessions. Jean Eric Vergne ended the opening session of the day in sixth place while his Toro Rosso team mate Daniil Kvyat finished the session in 7th place.
In the second session, Daniil Kvyat finished in 9th place while in Jean Eric Vergne finished the session in 14th place.
In the opening session the Lotus F1 Team's Pastor Maldonado finished the session in 15th place just ahead of team mate Esteban Ocon who was driving in place of Romain Grosjean who sat out the race. In the second session, Maldonado finished the session in 12th place while Grosjean set the 17th fastest time.
The Caterham F1 Team are back racing this weekend and in the opening session, Kamui Kobayash finished the session in 18th place while Formula One newcomer Will Stevens finished the session in 20th place. In the second session, Kamui Kobayashi finished in 18th place while Will Stevens finished the session in 19th place.
Speaking following today's running, Renault Sport F1's Head of Track Operations Remi Taffin stated:
'I think it’s been a pretty strong day, especially for Red Bull Racing who are very much in the hunt for another podium. They’ve had a very solid day Power Unit-wise with nothing to report. But we have seen that tyre degradation looks set to be a factor on Sunday so I’m expecting pitwall strategy to have a bearing on the result. That’s something RBR and Sebastian managed very well in Brazil.
Once again Toro Rosso look like they have good pace, so hopefully that will translate into potential for both drivers to make Q3 tomorrow. Daniil’s enjoyed a trouble-free day and was very consistent throughout en route to seventh and ninth. With this being the final race all the teams are using some old parts, and it was one of those – in the ERS-H system – that cost JEV some time this morning. It’s had no impact though.
There was also some good news down at Lotus F1 Team where Pastor’s current PU surpassed 4,300kms, proving that our newer spec components are getting closer to next season’s reliability targets when only four PUs will be available. On the other side of the garage Romain and the team made a strategic decision to introduce some new components instead of trying to run beyond the parts’ limits.
Finally, it’s good to have Caterham back with us this weekend. They have encountered no PU problems at all, which allowed them to focus on other areas.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
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