Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

“The situation is difficult to judge – said Seb – “because we haven’t seen much today and mostly collected data, and also because time is limited between the two sessions. But the important thing is that we had a good Friday, everything we put on the car seemed to work, and I felt happy with the balance of the car straight away and managed to find a good rhythm from the beginning. There has been a lot of talk about the third DRS zone: it may be easier to drop the wing for us than for smaller teams, whose cars have probably less downforce, anyway we’ll see what happens in the race. I believe that most of the difference today is due to the new asphalt and… the amazing English summer!”.

Die Atmosphäre war großartig, das Wetter ist fantastisch und die Zuschauer waren heute einfach unglaublich. Die Strecke ist so schnell wie noch nie zuvor. Wir fahren mit Vollgas durch Copse, Kurve eins und Kurve zwei - und das mit DRS. Das ist einfach wahnsinnig schnell. Je schneller die Strecke wird, desto besser ist es. Das muss einfach die beste Strecke auf der Welt sein. Es fühlt sich an, als ob man in einem Kampfjet um die Strecke fährt. Der Kurs weist aber auch mehr Bodenwellen auf als jeder andere auf dem ich bisher gefahren bin. Es ist wie auf der Nordschleife! Bei den Geschwindigkeiten, die wir heutzutage fahren, und den G-Kräften, die auf uns einwirken, wird das wohl das anstrengendste Rennen des Jahres. Ich bin heute mit den Soft- und Medium-Reifen gefahren. Die weichen Reifen fühlten sich besser an als die Medium und sie scheinen auch zu halten. Das ist beeindruckend, wenn man sich die Kräfte ansieht, denen sie auf dieser Strecke ausgesetzt sind. Es wird ein extrem enges Wochenende. Ferrari ist richtig schnell. Uns erwartet ein harter Kampf. Das ist fantastisch für die Fans und ich hoffe, dass wir es durchziehen können.

Die Strecke ist ganz anders als in den Vorjahren. Der neue Asphalt bietet mehr Grip, ist gleichzeitig aber auch sehr wellig. Zum Glück scheint das unsere Performance nicht zu beeinflussen, nur die schnellen Kurven 9 oder 13 sind dadurch etwas kniffliger. Es ist aber kein großes Problem, da wir durch den neuen Asphalt mehr Haftung haben. Wir haben die weichen Reifen heute ordentlich zum Arbeiten gebracht. Aber als die Streckentemperatur 50 Grad überstiegen hat, hatten wir ein paar Schwierigkeiten mit Überhitzung und wir erwarten ähnliche Bedingungen für den Samstag und den Sonntag. Die harten Reifen fühlten sich robuster an. Sie waren etwas langsamer, halten aber länger. Ferrari sieht richtig konkurrenzfähig aus, aber ich erwarte, dass wir morgen noch mehr Performance nachlegen können. Es wird jedoch extrem eng zugehen.

“It was a very normal Friday” commented Kimi “We have been trying different things and solutions and learning as much as we could. For sure there’s still some work to be done, but so far everything is ok. The resurfacing of the track made it a bit bumpy, in a few small spots, but all the time you feel it chattering all around the track. It’s a bit funny, but in the end it’s better than it used to be. This track has many nice parts and the grip has increased with the new tarmac. I don’t know if the new DRS zone is creating overtaking opportunities: I think it depends on what your car can or can’t do. I closed the wing during practice, I think it’s too tricky to keep it open and it doesn’t really make a big difference in lap time. Now we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

“It was actually pretty warm for Silverstone which we aren’t used to. I normally bring a ski jacket here, even in July (laughs). We weren’t really quick enough today. We will try and improve a few things which will hopefully put us a bit closer tomorrow but it seems for now quite a big step to Ferrari and Mercedes who look really strong. We certainly lose a fair bit of power, on the overlays you can see we are able to gain a bit in some corners but then we lose a bit of that and more. We will do what we can but at the moment we aren’t on their pace. Just keeping the tyres in a good condition in these uncharacteristically hot conditions is key, if we can get on top of that then maybe in the longer runs when we get into the race on Sunday it will come to us. I don’t think we can expect too much in Qualifying and if we are to qualify on the third row we really need to understand how to make the tyres go longer and then hopefully we will have a chance on Sunday. One thing is for sure, it was fun keeping it open all the way through turns one and two.”

“It was definitely a positive Friday for us. We tested several items for future reference, which meant we sacrificed some track time in FP1 for that. In the second session, the car behaved well and we did some tyre tests, but clearly the car is quite similar to how it was in France and Austria. “In the last 11 days we raced three times, so the performance and the power shouldn’t be too different to what we saw in the last couple of weeks, which means tomorrow it’s going to be tight in the midfield. Two tenths can completely change your qualifying, as you can be out in Q1 or you can be seventh. Hopefully we are closer to Q3 than in the last few races, but everything remains to be seen tomorrow. “The track is in good condition, in good shape; the asphalt is better, less bumpy, and has more grip. The third DRS zone probably gives us an opportunity to race as well, and the weather is great, so I think we have all the ingredients to see a good race.”

“That was a standard Friday where we started with the car not where we wanted it and refined it through the day. We made some positive improvements and I’m reasonably happy with how the car’s working here. It’s pretty hot out there and this combined to the new surface should make for an interesting qualifying session tomorrow and race on Sunday.”

“We had a positive day of practice, with both cars running very different set-ups to analyse the upgrades we are bringing to this race – namely the new floor. We collected most of the information we needed and we will work hard to find more performance in the lead up to qualifying. The new track surface is very smooth, but there’s plenty of grip out there. The tyre compounds are very different from those used in the last few races, but we managed to run on each of them and this should give us the information we need to make the best choices tonight.”

“We had a positive day of practice, with both cars running very different set-ups to analyse the upgrades we are bringing to this race – namely the new floor. We collected most of the information we needed and we will work hard to find more performance in the lead up to qualifying. The new track surface is very smooth, but there’s plenty of grip out there. The tyre compounds are very different from those used in the last few races, but we managed to run on each of them and this should give us the information we need to make the best choices tonight.”

“It’s been a busy day for the team. We had an update package to evaluate in the morning session, where we split the test plan between the two cars. Understanding how these tyres work on the resurfaced Silverstone track was one of our main aims from the day: we gathered a lot of data about all the compounds and we expect the conditions to remain very hot for the rest of the weekend. The margins are, as always, very tight in the midfield, so we will need to make a step forward before qualifying, but I think we can aim for Q3 tomorrow.”

“Ich bin mit dem Tag zufrieden. Ich habe mich im Auto wohl gefühlt, und wir haben zwischen den beiden freien Trainingseinheiten einige Fortschritte gemacht. Die Strecke bietet interessante Herausforderungen, und ich habe es sehr genossen hier zu fahren – besonders in den schnellen Kurven. Wir werden was wir heute gelernt haben dazu nutzen, um morgen weitere Fortschritte zu erzielen.“

“We managed to complete our programme so I’m pretty happy with how the day went. There’s certainly some work to do for tomorrow but we gathered important data. The long run was quite busy with the cars in front so I’m confident there is more pace to come. The new surface has plenty of grip, even when it was dirty at the start of the first session, but it is quite bumpy too. The DRS in turns 1 and 2 was interesting and it was a superb feeling to be flat out at a very hot and sunny Silverstone.”

“The heat’s been the same for everyone, but it’s something that’s making the tire management a bit trickier. Getting them to work – it’s always the main thing. The tires, for all the teams, can be difficult to manage, but that’s the focus. I think tomorrow we could be anywhere from seventh to 13th or something like that. It’s very close. You need to really hook it up to get in front of that midfield, but I think it’s all open. We need to go through the data a bit more to learn about today because we didn’t find many answers in the practice itself. We’ll go through everything and see if we can find some answers.”

"This morning we mainly focussed on aero tests to try and understand our new aero package, so I'm hoping we gathered some good data for the team. In the afternoon we had an issue with the engine which forced me to stop the second practice session early, so unfortunately I didn't get to complete many laps. At the moment it seems quite difficult for us here, I'm not entirely comfortable with the car as I didn't really find the right setup to make it work around this track. We've got a lot of work to do tonight to improve for tomorrow."

“Es war ein recht guter Freitag. Wir konnten das Programm wie geplant abarbeiten. Das Auto hat sich in Hinsicht auf die Balance gut angefühlt und wir haben einen soliden Ausgangspunkt auf dem wir das restliche Wochenende aufbauen können. Es ist toll, wieder in Silverstone zu sein. Es gefällt mir sehr auf dieser Strecke zu fahren. Die Kurven sind beeindruckend, insbesondere aufgrund der hohen Geschwindigkeiten die wir dieses Jahr mit unseren Autos erreichen können. Ich freue mich darauf, auf der heutigen Leistung aufzubauen.“

This morning looked better, but this afternoon wasn't so good, so we shall see tomorrow. We have to look into it a little more, but the car didn't feel quite as good this afternoon. The track temperatures went up, it could be that, but it is the same for everyone so we just need to look at what happened. The tyres are going to need quite a bit of management in the race. It is going to be between a one-stop and a two-stop, so we will see what we will do. The usual route throughout the weekend is that we both have different set-ups. It is bumpier than I predicted it would be coming into the weekend. I felt that with the new surface it was going to be smoother, but it doesn't seem to the case, as it was quite similar to how it was last year. But that is okay as I don't think it is too bumpy. The third DRS zone I think is good. I haven't done turn one with it activated yet, but some cars did and I think it gives a bit of a challenge to the drivers. We will perhaps see this more in other circuits - I would like to see it in 130R in Suzuka!

I made a very big mistake in FP1 which was disappointing, spinning the car in the gravel. So, we were very blind going into FP2, which didn’t go that bad. For me, it was a massive jump because I lost track-time and running in the first session, but I think we recovered well and completed quite a few laps in FP2. We have seen slight improvements in some areas regarding performance. I haven’t seen the guys yet but there are some positives to take from today and we have a lot of things to go through tonight.

I made a very big mistake in FP1 which was disappointing, spinning the car in the gravel. So, we were very blind going into FP2, which didn’t go that bad. For me, it was a massive jump because I lost track-time and running in the first session, but I think we recovered well and completed quite a few laps in FP2. We have seen slight improvements in some areas regarding performance. I haven’t seen the guys yet but there are some positives to take from today and we have a lot of things to go through tonight.

“I was quite surprised to come to Silverstone and it be so bumpy, especially after the resurfacing. In general it’s not been an easy Friday for us, but I think it’s been pretty positive for the team. “We split the set-ups between the two cars in FP2 and went in different directions to test various things. Fernando seemed to be going very well in sixth, so hopefully we’ve found some performance that we can take into tomorrow. From Friday to Saturday sometimes we make a bit of step backwards, but we’ll see; hopefully we can carry on improving. “I think it’s the tarmac here that provides a bit of a peaky feeling in the car. We had a similar feeling in Barcelona and Russia when they were resurfaced, but I think it’ll provide some entertainment.”

"It was a good day in terms of reliability as everything ran smoothly. We had a very extensive programme to run today, testing new parts along with old aero configurations which was part of a large data gathering exercise. Given we spent most of the two sessions testing, I don't think today's lap times are representative of where we are. We have a lot of numbers for everyone to study overnight and hopefully we can put together the best package for tomorrow."

“In FP1 I had a problem with the gearbox but I don’t know exactly what that is yet. In FP2 I think I was a bit too quick on the hard tyre; I tried to go too fast through the corner and I just lost it. The feeling is good and the car is working quite well but we are just losing a lot of time on the straights which is unfortunate. The hard tyre was very stiff, I only did a few corners on it but it didn’t feel fantastic. I expected with the new surface that it would be a lot smoother but it wasn’t, some of the really big bumps have gone but anyway, it is always really good to drive on this track with such fast corners. I always feel good here. Of course it’s not ideal to lose a session but I felt confident already in FP1. It seems like we may not be fighting for pole but we will try again tomorrow and at least I have two sets of soft tyres, which is positive. FP3 is still long enough to understand the car and tyres and anyway I will have Daniel’s data from today. We will be ok.”

“We’re not pleased to miss FP2, but there’s been some good work done on Kevin’s car. I was following the whole afternoon session. Obviously, we’re going to try and squeeze as much out of FP3 as we can. The car was fast this morning, so I think we should be alright. Hopefully, we can build up nicely tomorrow, and then do some fine tuning for qualifying when the track temperature gets really high. That’s going to be the biggest challenge for us, as we haven’t run those high track temperatures. Kevin was doing some good runs. I’ve just been looking at what he was doing out there, and trying to take that on-board for ourselves for our side of the garage.”