(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team's championship leader Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the second free practice session this afternoon ahead of Sunday's inaugural Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi circuit. The 2008 world champion set a time of 1m 39.630s to finish the session just ahead of McLaren's Kevin Magnussen who was just 0.864s behind Hamilton.
The Dane commented saying:
'It was a pretty decent day for us today, and the car feels good. However, this is a brand-new track, so it’s hard to be sure of where we really are because we were mostly working on set-up rather than outright pace.
“However, I can confirm that it’s a nice circuit, it has quite a lot of grip, the surface is pretty good, and it appears to suit the Pirelli tyres, so that makes it quite enjoyable to drive. Also, the Options [tyres] seem to last pretty well, so we might see not a lot of pit-stops in the race. Finally, the track is a bit different from how it felt in the simulator, and also from the impressions I formed when I walked it yesterday; better, to be honest.
The Dane commented saying:
'It was a pretty decent day for us today, and the car feels good. However, this is a brand-new track, so it’s hard to be sure of where we really are because we were mostly working on set-up rather than outright pace.
“However, I can confirm that it’s a nice circuit, it has quite a lot of grip, the surface is pretty good, and it appears to suit the Pirelli tyres, so that makes it quite enjoyable to drive. Also, the Options [tyres] seem to last pretty well, so we might see not a lot of pit-stops in the race. Finally, the track is a bit different from how it felt in the simulator, and also from the impressions I formed when I walked it yesterday; better, to be honest.
“But, as I say, it’s still too early to say anything definitive, because we don’t know if today’s result is the true picture, so we’ll need to wait and see what happens tomorrow.“Last but far from least, Jules [Bianchi] is very much in our minds, and we’re all still thinking about him and hoping for the best.'
Speaking following today's on track action Lewis Hamilton commented:
'I like the new circuit; it’s got really good grip and great corners, with a lot at medium speed. It’s good fun. The car has been feeling really good today. McLaren look close which is great for everyone as it should make for a decent race. We’ve got quite a good balance with the car so there are a lot of boxes ticked but we still have work to do to see if we can improve for tomorrow.'
Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff commented:
'My compliments go to the organisers on the standard of the facility here in Sochi and this challenging new circuit. Like at any new track, the surface was very green today and we need running time for the grip levels to build up; we could see that lap times were improving all the way through both sessions. The conditions will probably ramp up even further through the weekend and we need to make the right decisions on set-up.'
'My compliments go to the organisers on the standard of the facility here in Sochi and this challenging new circuit. Like at any new track, the surface was very green today and we need running time for the grip levels to build up; we could see that lap times were improving all the way through both sessions. The conditions will probably ramp up even further through the weekend and we need to make the right decisions on set-up.'
Mercedes Executive Technical Director Paddy Lowe commented by saying:
'The first thing we must say is that it’s great to be here at this new circuit in Sochi. We are very happy with the circuit and the facilities and a great job has been done to prepare everything to a high standard. On track, the biggest challenge of the weekend will be to make the tyres work on this brand new tarmac. The problems seem to be shared by all teams and we worked hard between the sessions to make some changes, with some moderate success. We expect tomorrow to prove very challenging as a number of our competitors were looking very fast today. On the positive front, we enjoyed a trouble-free day in terms of reliability, but we have a busy evening of analysis ahead of us.'
McLaren have shown so far on Friday that they have the potential to be extremely competitive this weekend. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was third fastest for the Italian team, 0.8764s behind Hamilton.
Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest in the second Mercedes having topped this morning's session, the German was 0.912s behind team mate Lewis Hamilton.The German commented:
Valtteri Bottas had a great session for the Williams Martini Racing Team 0.943s behind Hamilton. The Finn stated:
'I’m positively surprised by the track as it’s more challenging than I expected with quite a few technical sections, especially the final sector and I found it enjoyable to drive.
The asphalt is quite smooth and combined with the hard compounds we saw little tyre degradation today, but this has corresponding challenges as it makes it harder to get the tyres to work on your opening laps. We therefore have work to do to make sure we get the most out of the tyres for qualifying tomorrow but overall a good start for us and this track seems to suit our car pretty well. '
'That was a very productive day from an engineering point of view. The team decided to go two different ways in terms of setup. I took a very creative setup for my car in the second practice session, which didn’t work out. So we will go back to the conservative way for tomorrow, because we saw that Lewis was very quick with that. The track is really cool to drive, very enjoyable. Turn three is a very special one and the asphalt is very smooth, so the tyres last long. We won’t see that many pit stops on Sunday, I guess. That’s a bit surprising to me.'
Valtteri Bottas had a great session for the Williams Martini Racing Team 0.943s behind Hamilton. The Finn stated:
'I’m positively surprised by the track as it’s more challenging than I expected with quite a few technical sections, especially the final sector and I found it enjoyable to drive.
The asphalt is quite smooth and combined with the hard compounds we saw little tyre degradation today, but this has corresponding challenges as it makes it harder to get the tyres to work on your opening laps. We therefore have work to do to make sure we get the most out of the tyres for qualifying tomorrow but overall a good start for us and this track seems to suit our car pretty well. '
Jenson Button put in an extremely strong performance for McLaren setting the sixth fastest time of the afternoon session splitting the Williams Martini Racing Team drivers as Felipe Massa finished the session in 7th place. The Brazilian commented:
' I’m positively surprised by the track as it’s more challenging than I expected with quite a few technical sections, especially the final sector and I found it enjoyable to drive.
The asphalt is quite smooth and combined with the hard compounds we saw little tyre degradation today, but this has corresponding challenges as it makes it harder to get the tyres to work on your opening laps. We therefore have work to do to make sure we get the most out of the tyres for qualifying tomorrow but overall a good start for us and this track seems to suit our car pretty well. '
Williams Martini Racing Team's Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley stated:
'This is an interesting circuit and we’ve had a positive practice today. It’s very much a low speed track, with no real high speed corners and our primary focus was to get the set-up of the cars right and to get the drivers honed in to the right trajectory. We still have a bit more to find on this but that was always going to be the case given this is a new circuit. The car balance is looking good for the first day and the car performance has looked good on both low and high fuel runs.
Valtteri had a problem with his tyre blankets this morning which hindered his run time in FP1 but this didn’t affect the overall run programme in the end. The compounds are looking very hard for this track but this is the same for everyone and we need to analyse how this will affect the race weekend. The tyre performance might change quickly so we need to be open minded with our strategy and react to this when needed. '
Speaking following the session, Jenson Button commented by saying:
'Things went okay today from the word ‘go’. We were quick on the Primes [tyres], and the Options on high fuel seemed pretty good, too. On low fuel I couldn’t quite get a balance, but hopefully we can improve that tomorrow.
“It’s a circuit that seems to suit us reasonably well at the moment, but it will inevitably evolve tomorrow and we’ll have to be very careful of that.
' I’m positively surprised by the track as it’s more challenging than I expected with quite a few technical sections, especially the final sector and I found it enjoyable to drive.
The asphalt is quite smooth and combined with the hard compounds we saw little tyre degradation today, but this has corresponding challenges as it makes it harder to get the tyres to work on your opening laps. We therefore have work to do to make sure we get the most out of the tyres for qualifying tomorrow but overall a good start for us and this track seems to suit our car pretty well. '
Williams Martini Racing Team's Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley stated:
'This is an interesting circuit and we’ve had a positive practice today. It’s very much a low speed track, with no real high speed corners and our primary focus was to get the set-up of the cars right and to get the drivers honed in to the right trajectory. We still have a bit more to find on this but that was always going to be the case given this is a new circuit. The car balance is looking good for the first day and the car performance has looked good on both low and high fuel runs.
Valtteri had a problem with his tyre blankets this morning which hindered his run time in FP1 but this didn’t affect the overall run programme in the end. The compounds are looking very hard for this track but this is the same for everyone and we need to analyse how this will affect the race weekend. The tyre performance might change quickly so we need to be open minded with our strategy and react to this when needed. '
Speaking following the session, Jenson Button commented by saying:
'Things went okay today from the word ‘go’. We were quick on the Primes [tyres], and the Options on high fuel seemed pretty good, too. On low fuel I couldn’t quite get a balance, but hopefully we can improve that tomorrow.
“It’s a circuit that seems to suit us reasonably well at the moment, but it will inevitably evolve tomorrow and we’ll have to be very careful of that.
“In the simulator, however, it wasn’t much fun to drive at all, but here it’s nice to drive, so I can say with confidence that I’m happy with the job the designers and organisers have done.
“There are a few places that are a bit bumpy, but that adds to the challenge. Turn 13 is particularly bumpy on the entry, and your left front wheel is unweighted, so it’s very easy to lock that wheel under braking; it’s pretty tricky there so we’ll have to make sure we get the brake balance right.
“Also, a few of the corners are quite difficult to get right on the exit, because they’re negative-camber, so it’s easy to get a big snap of oversteer.“Finally, as Kevin says, our thoughts and prayers are with Jules, whom all of us are missing greatly.'
McLaren Racing director Eric Boullier commented on today's running saying:
'Our first impressions of the Sochi track are good. Our drivers enjoyed driving on it, and the organisation and facilities here are impressive. “As ever, when you’re running on a brand-new circuit for the very first time, however, your learning curve is necessarily steep.“But, as far as we’re concerned, this morning’s and this afternoon’s sessions went more or less as planned, and we’re satisfied with the progress we made during today’s three hours of potential running time.
Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat finished the session 8th place 1.478s behind Hamilton and finished ahead of the man his is replacing at Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Sebastian Vettel who finished the session 9th place. Speaking about today's running Vettel said:
'Does getting back in the car help us after what’s happened? It does and it doesn’t. It helps to get your head elsewhere and focus on the day job – looking after the best possible set up and comparing the tyres and learning the new track, it keeps you occupied. But on the other hand it’s only been a couple of days, so it’s quite fresh and difficult. It looks like we will struggle here; it’s a nice track, but maybe not made for us.'
All driver's on the grid are carrying special tribute stickers for Jules Bianchi arranged by Toro Torro's Jean Eric Vergne
Toro Rosso's Jean Eric Vergne finished the session in 10th place just ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Sahara Force India F1 Team's Nico Hulkenberg finished the session in 12th place. Speaking following the session Hulkenberg commented by saying:
'It was a positive Friday for us. This is a nice track to drive; it's really cool but also challenging and tricky. There are some very technical parts, especially the last sector. We ticked all the boxes in our programme today and got some good data. We will work on tweaking the balance a little overnight in order to find a bit more pace and improve performance for tomorrow.'
'It was a positive Friday for us. This is a nice track to drive; it's really cool but also challenging and tricky. There are some very technical parts, especially the last sector. We ticked all the boxes in our programme today and got some good data. We will work on tweaking the balance a little overnight in order to find a bit more pace and improve performance for tomorrow.'
In the closing stages of the session the red flag had to come out as Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo stopped out on track as his Renault power unit failed. However speaking to BBC F1 directly after the incident Infiniti Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner confirmed that it was an old unit that was coming to the end of it's life. He also confirmed that he expects Sebastian Vettel to take a grid penalty next time out in Austin.
Despite stopping on track, Ricciardo finished the session in 13th place just ahead of Sahara Force India's Sergio 'Checco' Perez. Speaking following the season Ricciardo said:
'After what happened in Japan, you try and do the best you can. I would be lying if I said other things weren’t on my mind, but you do what you can to make sure you’re 100% committed to driving and that’s the best way for our job and our headspace. It’s the best way, but it was tricky and not as easy as I expected. It was our last Friday with that engine, so it’s not a worry that she turned off at the end there. We tried a few settings and we’re not so fast here, the straights are long and we’re suffering a bit.'
Sergio 'Checco' Perez commented on his day saying:
'It was nice to get out on track and get our mind off the very difficult week we all had. I would say today was a good start to our weekend. We managed to complete almost all our programme, with the only interruption caused by the red flag.
This interrupted our assessment of the prime tyre in the long runs, but it feels like it handles quite well. The track has a very nice layout and the option tyres in particular work really well here. As a circuit, it appears to be quite demanding in terms of fuel, which will have implications for the strategy. These factors should make for quite an interesting race for the fans.'
Sahara Force India team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya commented by saying:
'One of the priorities today was to give the drivers as much track time as possible to get acquainted with this new circuit. We were able to verify the correlation between our simulations and the actual track running, checking that we are running the correct settings and that we are getting the most of the advantages our power unit gives us.
There is still plenty of work to do but it's positive to see that both Nico and Checo were getting happier and happier about the car as the day progressed. We end the day being pretty satisfied with the balance we have shown in the long runs, and we will aim to get a bit more qualifying performance ahead of tomorrow.'
'After what happened in Japan, you try and do the best you can. I would be lying if I said other things weren’t on my mind, but you do what you can to make sure you’re 100% committed to driving and that’s the best way for our job and our headspace. It’s the best way, but it was tricky and not as easy as I expected. It was our last Friday with that engine, so it’s not a worry that she turned off at the end there. We tried a few settings and we’re not so fast here, the straights are long and we’re suffering a bit.'
Sergio 'Checco' Perez commented on his day saying:
'It was nice to get out on track and get our mind off the very difficult week we all had. I would say today was a good start to our weekend. We managed to complete almost all our programme, with the only interruption caused by the red flag.
This interrupted our assessment of the prime tyre in the long runs, but it feels like it handles quite well. The track has a very nice layout and the option tyres in particular work really well here. As a circuit, it appears to be quite demanding in terms of fuel, which will have implications for the strategy. These factors should make for quite an interesting race for the fans.'
Sahara Force India team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya commented by saying:
'One of the priorities today was to give the drivers as much track time as possible to get acquainted with this new circuit. We were able to verify the correlation between our simulations and the actual track running, checking that we are running the correct settings and that we are getting the most of the advantages our power unit gives us.
There is still plenty of work to do but it's positive to see that both Nico and Checo were getting happier and happier about the car as the day progressed. We end the day being pretty satisfied with the balance we have shown in the long runs, and we will aim to get a bit more qualifying performance ahead of tomorrow.'
The Sauber F1 Team's Adrian Sutil was 15th fastest for the Swiss based outfit. Speaking following the session the German stated:
'It was interesting to drive on a new circuit, and it was a lot of fun as the track has some nice corners. In general, the balance of the car is not yet good enough, but we were able to go through our programme without any issues.
We will try to improve some details for tomorrow, however, I do not think we can make a huge step forward. Although we will enhance our package as well as we can to get the maximum out of it. Besides that, I can surely find some extra tenths on this new circuit.'
The Lotus F1 Team duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who finished the session in 17th and 18th place respectively. Speaking following the session Romain Grosjean commented by saying:
'It was pretty difficult today as we really had to chase the set-up of the car as the track evolved, which always gives you a lot to do behind the wheel. The layout of the circuit is really good and I think it will mean an enjoyable race here.
We have quite a bit of work to do to get the most out of the car and the tyres, which is normal for a new circuit. The track is fun to drive and certainly gives you a lot to think about. I’m looking forward to unlocking more pace tomorrow.'
Pastor Maldonado comment on his day saying:
'It’s great to learn a new circuit and we ran well today. We made good progress with the car through the two sessions as well as the track improving over the course of the day.
As expected, there wasn’t too much grip to start with and I think there is still quite a lot of improvement to come in this area tomorrow and even on Sunday too. It was good first day and I think we can expect more progress on Saturday.'
The Lotus F1 Team's Tarckside Operaations Director, Alan Permane commented by saying:
'Today we had the added challenge of learning a new track to add to our programme. This means as well as the drivers getting on top of the layout and grip levels, we spend a reasonable amount of time refining the set-up of the cars. We completed some valuable aerodynamic assessments in the morning before being tyre-focused in the afternoon. We ran reliably through the day to give us plenty of data to analyse.
The Sochi Autodrom is an impressive facility with the track constructed to a very high standard which gave our engineers and drivers plenty of work to do today.'
'It was interesting to drive on a new circuit, and it was a lot of fun as the track has some nice corners. In general, the balance of the car is not yet good enough, but we were able to go through our programme without any issues.
We will try to improve some details for tomorrow, however, I do not think we can make a huge step forward. Although we will enhance our package as well as we can to get the maximum out of it. Besides that, I can surely find some extra tenths on this new circuit.'
The Lotus F1 Team duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who finished the session in 17th and 18th place respectively. Speaking following the session Romain Grosjean commented by saying:
'It was pretty difficult today as we really had to chase the set-up of the car as the track evolved, which always gives you a lot to do behind the wheel. The layout of the circuit is really good and I think it will mean an enjoyable race here.
We have quite a bit of work to do to get the most out of the car and the tyres, which is normal for a new circuit. The track is fun to drive and certainly gives you a lot to think about. I’m looking forward to unlocking more pace tomorrow.'
Pastor Maldonado comment on his day saying:
'It’s great to learn a new circuit and we ran well today. We made good progress with the car through the two sessions as well as the track improving over the course of the day.
As expected, there wasn’t too much grip to start with and I think there is still quite a lot of improvement to come in this area tomorrow and even on Sunday too. It was good first day and I think we can expect more progress on Saturday.'
The Lotus F1 Team's Tarckside Operaations Director, Alan Permane commented by saying:
'Today we had the added challenge of learning a new track to add to our programme. This means as well as the drivers getting on top of the layout and grip levels, we spend a reasonable amount of time refining the set-up of the cars. We completed some valuable aerodynamic assessments in the morning before being tyre-focused in the afternoon. We ran reliably through the day to give us plenty of data to analyse.
The Sochi Autodrom is an impressive facility with the track constructed to a very high standard which gave our engineers and drivers plenty of work to do today.'
The Sauber F1 Team's Esteban Gutierrez was taking part in his first session in Russia after making room for Sergey Siroktin this morning. The Mexican commented by saying:
'After missing the first practice session, we had a very productive afternoon. It was important to catch up with the programme in FP2. I think we are surprised with the track’s performance, as the tyres are working well while the grip level was quite high. We extracted a lot more than we expected today, and we are going to make sure that happens tomorrow as well. Regarding the new track, I really like it, and I am enjoying driving there.
Besides that, I want to say that our thoughts and prayers are still with Jules, and his family at this difficult time. The most important thing for Jules is to let him feel our strength, and send him our positive energy. I am going to help in any way I can, and at the same time show my support for Jules and the family. Let’s keep praying for him.'
Speaking about his run the C33 this morning infront of his home crowd, Sergey Siroktin commented by saying:
'It was a positive session. I like the track, and it was nice driving the C33. I took it easy at the beginning in order to build up confidence, as I have not driven the car for about half a year, but today I was able to quickly get the feeling for it. During my last fast lap at the end of the session, I was a bit unlucky with the traffic, and the tyres did not have the optimal temperature. The conditions were not ideal, which cost me some time during my last fast lap.
I see a lot of potential to improve, as I took it easy, and I was not pushing to the absolute limit. The track is quite nice, but also tricky. Turn 1 seems to be an easy corner which can be taken flat out. However, I was a bit surprised on my first lap when I went through Turn 1, as it was quite bumpy in one place. Neverthelesse, after a few laps you get used to the track’s characteristics.'
The Swiss based outfit's Head of Track Engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara commented by saying:
'All in all it was a good day as we were able to complete our programme. The morning was all about learning about this new track from both the drivers’ and engineers’ sides. We got a first impression how the tyres would cope with the tarmac.
The lap times were improving pretty quickly, something we had to consider when working on the set-up. In one of the cars we had Sergey, who did a good job, did not make any mistakes and built up the speed progressively. This cost a bit of track time for Esteban, so we decided to adapt his programme in the afternoon and give him some more time to work on the set-up. Adrian did the regular tyre evaluation programme.'
Marcus Ericsson was 19th with the sole Marussia of Max Chilton finishing the session in 20th place.
'After missing the first practice session, we had a very productive afternoon. It was important to catch up with the programme in FP2. I think we are surprised with the track’s performance, as the tyres are working well while the grip level was quite high. We extracted a lot more than we expected today, and we are going to make sure that happens tomorrow as well. Regarding the new track, I really like it, and I am enjoying driving there.
Besides that, I want to say that our thoughts and prayers are still with Jules, and his family at this difficult time. The most important thing for Jules is to let him feel our strength, and send him our positive energy. I am going to help in any way I can, and at the same time show my support for Jules and the family. Let’s keep praying for him.'
Speaking about his run the C33 this morning infront of his home crowd, Sergey Siroktin commented by saying:
'It was a positive session. I like the track, and it was nice driving the C33. I took it easy at the beginning in order to build up confidence, as I have not driven the car for about half a year, but today I was able to quickly get the feeling for it. During my last fast lap at the end of the session, I was a bit unlucky with the traffic, and the tyres did not have the optimal temperature. The conditions were not ideal, which cost me some time during my last fast lap.
I see a lot of potential to improve, as I took it easy, and I was not pushing to the absolute limit. The track is quite nice, but also tricky. Turn 1 seems to be an easy corner which can be taken flat out. However, I was a bit surprised on my first lap when I went through Turn 1, as it was quite bumpy in one place. Neverthelesse, after a few laps you get used to the track’s characteristics.'
The Swiss based outfit's Head of Track Engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara commented by saying:
'All in all it was a good day as we were able to complete our programme. The morning was all about learning about this new track from both the drivers’ and engineers’ sides. We got a first impression how the tyres would cope with the tarmac.
The lap times were improving pretty quickly, something we had to consider when working on the set-up. In one of the cars we had Sergey, who did a good job, did not make any mistakes and built up the speed progressively. This cost a bit of track time for Esteban, so we decided to adapt his programme in the afternoon and give him some more time to work on the set-up. Adrian did the regular tyre evaluation programme.'
Marcus Ericsson was 19th with the sole Marussia of Max Chilton finishing the session in 20th place.
The Caterham F1 Team's Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the timesheets in 21st place.
© Ben Johnston 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment