(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
The Mercedes AMG F1 Team picked up in Free Practice 2 from where they left off this morning as they topped the time sheets with Lewis Hamilton setting a benchmark time of 1m49.189s finishing the day 0.604s ahead of team mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in third place in what proved to be a stop start session with not one but two red flag periods during the session.
Speaking after today's running, Hamilton stated:
'It’s great to be back in the car and it was feeling good out there today. The morning wasn’t as strong, but it definitely improved in the afternoon. As always, we still have work to do tonight, but overall today was ok. It stayed dry throughout both sessions but the forecast is wet for tomorrow, so it was important to maximise track time as this may be our last dry running before the race. We’ve seen rain so often here in the past and that can really mix things up – particularly when it’s wet in places and dry in others. Your visor is almost level with the ground, so it’s not like looking from above where you can see the different patches. That makes it really hard to pick out the areas where you can find grip, but it’s also a lot of fun. The only bad part of today was that I had my suit on when I did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It was pretty cold but I didn’t feel it that much, so I think I’ll need to do it again to make up for it!'
Nico Rosberg stated:
'It’s really great to be back at Spa. It’s a fantastic track, the flow of the circuit is great and driving Eau Rouge is tricky this year with less downforce. You need to be really precise, and with worn tyres it was tough to take this unique corner flat out. It looks like we have the quickest car again, but it’s a bit different here than at some other tracks. It seems that some of the other teams are closer and we need to work a bit on our speed down the straights. As normal, it will be a long night analysing everything that we learned today to really nail it tomorrow. The interesting challenge for this weekend is to find the right compromise between being quick over one lap and over a long distance in the race – especially if it’s wet tomorrow, with the predictions currently saying we will have mixed conditions.'
Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff commented:
'Spa is always a tough circuit for both the drivers and the cars, and it usually takes a little while for everything to come together during practice. The drivers were not completely happy at the start of the day and worked hard to improve the balance for the long runs this afternoon. The headline times looked good but we still need to make some progress to convert that into a good advantage in race conditions. That will be our focus overnight ahead of qualifying.'
Meanwhile Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe said:
'We found the expected cool conditions today at Spa but fortunately neither session was disrupted by rain, so we completed a lot of work with both cars as we ran through the technical programme. This is a very challenging circuit at which to find the optimum set-up – balancing the requirements of the high-speed corners with the low drag you ideally want on the straights – so we did a lot of work on that to find the best compromise. Both drivers were struggling with the balance at different points of the session but we made good steps with the set-up to get them happier by the end of the day. However, we still have a lot more to do overnight to maximise the potential of the car.'
Fernando Alonso ended the day 0.741s behind Hamilton his team mate Kimi Raikkonen had a disastrous afternoon following and engine misfire which resulted in him missing much of the afternoon session and when he did get back out he could manage to set the 15th fastest time and was unable to complete any meaningful long runs so he will head into tomorrow's final practice session and qualifying hoping for much better day after finishing this morning's session in 5th place.
Williams Martini Racing's Felipe Masa was fourth fastest for the Grove based outfit which was a vast improvement from where the Brazilian finished this morning at a circuit where the team are expecting to be challenging Mercedes for the race win on Sunday. The Brazilian stated:
'It was a good Friday for us with no issues and we were able to continue learning about the car. We saw some tyre degradation so that will make tyre strategy crucial and it will be important to be on the right tyre at the right time in the race. Mercedes are still looking very strong and seem to have an advantage over everyone else, but we should have a good opportunity to fight for the podium and we need to make sure that we continue improving the car over the course of the weekend.'
'It was a good Friday for us with no issues and we were able to continue learning about the car. We saw some tyre degradation so that will make tyre strategy crucial and it will be important to be on the right tyre at the right time in the race. Mercedes are still looking very strong and seem to have an advantage over everyone else, but we should have a good opportunity to fight for the podium and we need to make sure that we continue improving the car over the course of the weekend.'
It was a great session for McLaren's Jenson Button as he finished the second session in 5th place just ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams FW36. Bottas stated:
'We did a lot of set-up tests today with some good results and we will be aiming for a strong result in qualifying and the race because this is a track that is suited to our car. The car balance felt good from the beginning and we managed to improve it as the sessions went on, but there is still more performance I think we can unlock before Sunday. I didn’t have a particularly good lap on the option tyres, but the time I set was still competitive so that is encouraging.'
Williams Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley stated:
'We managed to complete most of the work we needed to today and overall this has been a positive practice for us. Typically Spa brings a few challenges for teams with the high speeds we run at this track, but the drivers and their crew did a very good job in diligently working their way through the schedules.
We focused on aero work this morning and we then moved on to tyre tests on low and high fuel levels, with encouraging results. The objective is to remain fighting for podiums in the second half of the season and from today’s running it looks like we are still in the mix. We have a lot of data to work through and decisions to make tonight, and hopefully we can continue to progress the set-up of the car so that we peak on Sunday. '
Daniil Kvyat put in another solid session for Toro Rosso as he was 7th fastest just ahead of Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo who suffered a small brake issue early on in the session. The Australian said:
'I think we knew it would be difficult to break away from the mid field here - we see Force India, McLaren and Toro Rosso and a few of the others are strong. Hopefully tomorrow we can find a bit more speed and get ahead of them. Our long run is better than our short run pace, so that's not bad, if we have a good race car then Sundays are always more fun. If the track keeps rubbering in, and we'll see what the weather does tomorrow, then it should come a bit more into our hands. Eau rouge is still flat out, but you have to concentrate a bit more, it's not a Sunday drive through there anymore!'
'We did a lot of set-up tests today with some good results and we will be aiming for a strong result in qualifying and the race because this is a track that is suited to our car. The car balance felt good from the beginning and we managed to improve it as the sessions went on, but there is still more performance I think we can unlock before Sunday. I didn’t have a particularly good lap on the option tyres, but the time I set was still competitive so that is encouraging.'
Williams Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley stated:
'We managed to complete most of the work we needed to today and overall this has been a positive practice for us. Typically Spa brings a few challenges for teams with the high speeds we run at this track, but the drivers and their crew did a very good job in diligently working their way through the schedules.
We focused on aero work this morning and we then moved on to tyre tests on low and high fuel levels, with encouraging results. The objective is to remain fighting for podiums in the second half of the season and from today’s running it looks like we are still in the mix. We have a lot of data to work through and decisions to make tonight, and hopefully we can continue to progress the set-up of the car so that we peak on Sunday. '
Daniil Kvyat put in another solid session for Toro Rosso as he was 7th fastest just ahead of Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo who suffered a small brake issue early on in the session. The Australian said:
'I think we knew it would be difficult to break away from the mid field here - we see Force India, McLaren and Toro Rosso and a few of the others are strong. Hopefully tomorrow we can find a bit more speed and get ahead of them. Our long run is better than our short run pace, so that's not bad, if we have a good race car then Sundays are always more fun. If the track keeps rubbering in, and we'll see what the weather does tomorrow, then it should come a bit more into our hands. Eau rouge is still flat out, but you have to concentrate a bit more, it's not a Sunday drive through there anymore!'
Ricciardo's team mate Sebastian Vettel however was forced to sit out the entire second practice session as the team were busy changing the power unit in the back of the reigning world champions RB10. The German stated:
'Hopefully the engine we had a problem with today is not damaged, we have to check it properly. If it is then obviously we have to get another one out, not necessarily for this weekend but some weekends in the future so we'll have to wait and see. Obviously I didn't drive much except for a few laps this morning. There's a lot of boxes to be ticked in general, and it's important around here to get your eye in, every year's different. It's a long lap, there's a lot of high speed corners and therefore it's important to have a rhythm, whereas at a slower track maybe it's a little bit easier.'
'Hopefully the engine we had a problem with today is not damaged, we have to check it properly. If it is then obviously we have to get another one out, not necessarily for this weekend but some weekends in the future so we'll have to wait and see. Obviously I didn't drive much except for a few laps this morning. There's a lot of boxes to be ticked in general, and it's important around here to get your eye in, every year's different. It's a long lap, there's a lot of high speed corners and therefore it's important to have a rhythm, whereas at a slower track maybe it's a little bit easier.'
Kevin Magnussen was 9th fastest in the second McLaren with Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg doing a great job rounding out the top ten for the Silverstone based outfit. The German stated:
'Today was a solid day and we achieved all we wanted from our programme, which is a great way to start the weekend. Fortunately the weather was stable and dry and we could use our time in the most effective way. The car performed at a good level straight away from the start of the day and we collected a lot of useful data. It will be interesting to see the conditions tomorrow - the weather can change very quickly here so you can't really rely on the forecasts.'
'Today was a solid day and we achieved all we wanted from our programme, which is a great way to start the weekend. Fortunately the weather was stable and dry and we could use our time in the most effective way. The car performed at a good level straight away from the start of the day and we collected a lot of useful data. It will be interesting to see the conditions tomorrow - the weather can change very quickly here so you can't really rely on the forecasts.'
Jean Eric Vergne was just outside the top ten in eleventh place as he aims to impress other teams ahead of next season while Adrian Sutil put in a solid job for the Sauber F1 Team finishing the session in 12th place place ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Force India and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean. Speaking following today's running Perez stated:
'It was a good day and we learnt a lot about the tyres and the balance. The long run pace looks good so I think we can look forward to a promising weekend. Hopefully we can get into the top ten tomorrow, putting us in a strong position to get big points on Sunday.'
Sahara Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley commented:
'Spa is a unique track for the 2014 cars and it is very important to maximise the performance of the power unit on the long straights. We were pleased the weather remained consistent throughout the day, allowing an uninterrupted programme.
Track conditions didn't change much between the two sessions, so we could carry out strategic tests to prepare for both qualifying and the race: we are happy with how it all went and we have gathered a lot of data for us to go through. We have shown a competitive long run pace and have got some good responses on the aero side. All in all, it's been a very positive day and we are looking forward to the weekend.'
'It was a good day and we learnt a lot about the tyres and the balance. The long run pace looks good so I think we can look forward to a promising weekend. Hopefully we can get into the top ten tomorrow, putting us in a strong position to get big points on Sunday.'
Sahara Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley commented:
'Spa is a unique track for the 2014 cars and it is very important to maximise the performance of the power unit on the long straights. We were pleased the weather remained consistent throughout the day, allowing an uninterrupted programme.
Track conditions didn't change much between the two sessions, so we could carry out strategic tests to prepare for both qualifying and the race: we are happy with how it all went and we have gathered a lot of data for us to go through. We have shown a competitive long run pace and have got some good responses on the aero side. All in all, it's been a very positive day and we are looking forward to the weekend.'
Kimi Raikkonen was 15th fastest for Ferrari ending the session just ahead of the Marussia F1 Team's Jules Bianchi who in turn finished ahead of the Sauber F1 Team's Eteban Gutierrez who sat out this morning's session to allow Giedo Van Der Garde to run the C33.
Max Chilton who has sorted out his issues with the Marussia F1 Team was 18th for the Banbbury based outfit while Marcus Ericsson finished the session ahead of new team mate Andre Lotterer who was final driver to set a time.
Pastor Maldonado in the second Lotus was forced to sit out the session after bringing out the red flag early on following a heavy brush with the barrier which did a lot of damage to his E22.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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