Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

“In summary, a pretty good Friday. I feel like we have a good balance with the car which shows by topping Practice 2. It was a nice surprise to start so competitively here but we have to remember it is only Friday. The others will be quicker for Qualifying but certainly a better than expected start. We are looking competitive ahead of tomorrow, along with this we need to wait and see how the weather is going to behave as this could have a big impact. I haven’t had a chance to do a proper long run yet but the feeling is good for now. We lost a few laps due to a small oil leak this afternoon but this was quickly fixed and I managed to get a few laps in at the end of the session to make sure everything was fine. The tight parts of the track, sectors 1 and 3, feel good and I think our pace shows in these areas. Let’s hope we are in a similar position or at least close tomorrow.”

Es ist großartig, wieder hier in Hockenheim zu sein. Das Wetter ist fantastisch, es ist sehr heiß, wodurch es im Cockpit sehr anspruchsvoll und anstrengend ist. Die Strecke ist zwar recht kurz, aber technisch dennoch recht anspruchsvoll. Wir konnten heute unser Programm absolvieren, alle Sessions beenden und alle nötigen Informationen über die Reifen sammeln. Das Auto fühlte sich gut an, aber es geht sehr eng zu. Somit haben wir heute Abend noch viel zu tun. Wir haben an unseren Starts und einem besseren Verständnis für die Reifen sowie die Reifentemperaturen gearbeitet und dabei versucht, so perfekt wie möglich zu sein. Sowohl Ferrari als auch Red Bull waren heute sehr schnell und ich glaube, dass es morgen und am Sonntag sehr ähnlich aussehen wird. Sie werden uns richtig fordern und auf dieser Strecke ist es nicht einfach, alles richtig hinzubekommen. Deshalb müssen wir unser Bestes geben.

Wir haben heute meine Vertragsverlängerung bekanntgegeben und ich durfte ein Formel 1-Auto in Hockenheim fahren - es war also ein richtig guter Tag. Es ist klasse, wieder in Deutschland zu fahren. Wir befinden uns jetzt als Team in einer sehr guten Situation, da die Vertragslage geklärt ist und wir uns voll auf den harten Kampf konzentrieren können, in dem wir uns gerade befinden. Das Auto schien heute konkurrenzfähig zu sein, aber es war wie erwartet sehr eng. Ich hatte etwas mit der Vorderachse des Autos zu kämpfen und wir müssen noch etwas mehr in den langsamen und mittelschnellen Kurven finden. Davon abgesehen war es aber okay. Ich bin noch nicht ganz zufrieden, aber genau dafür sind die Freitage ja da. Wir werden weiter am Auto arbeiten und bis morgen sicher mehr Fortschritte erzielen. Heute haben wir etwas unter überhitzenden Reifen gelitten, aber ich bin mir sicher, dass es bei den anderen nicht anders gewesen ist. Am Sonntag soll es ohnehin etwas kühler sein. Wir haben viele Daten gesammelt, die wir heute Abend studieren müssen, um die Reifen bis zum Rennen noch besser zu verstehen.

“The car has been working well today and it’s been a normal Friday”, was Seb’s comment after P2.” Today, we tried a little bit of everything. I think we got along quite well with the tyre selection that we used today. Now we have to find out how we’ve been working compared to the others, but I think that even if we can still improve our lap time, the car is fine. I think the high temperatures we had today could probably have an impact somehow, but we don’t know exactly what the weather will be like. Tomorrow it should rain, but on Sunday we expect it to be dry again. It was very nice to see a lot of Ferrari flags here today and it’s great to see a lot of people supporting us!”

“Friday is the only day that we can use as a test”, Kimi said “trying a lot of things and different solutions. It was a very normal day and later this evening we‘ll analyze what we have learned today and put things together for qualifying. Tomorrow the conditions might be a bit different from today and a bit more tricky. On Sunday if the weather stays warm like it was today, for sure it will be challenging for the tires; it’s going to be more similar to Austria, with a limit on the tyres, and whoever makes the best job in managing them is going to have some advantage. So far we have been reasonably strong in most places, we’ll see how it goes here; it looks pretty close”.

“It’s great to be back in Germany. It’s a big country for motorsport. I have some good memories from my earlier career here and it’s always good to come back. I’m pretty happy with our day. It’s not going too bad. We were the fourth fastest team again. That’s where we want to be. It’s been very warm today – that may not be the case over the weekend – so we’ll keep an eye on that, but so far the car’s been working very well. The car’s been happiest in the high-speed sections – we love high speed. The tires haven’t been having a good time in general – for everyone, I guess – but it’s hard to keep them cool. We’re hoping for a dry race as it’ll be easier for everyone, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We have to choose the right tire, at the right time. It should be a bit cooler for the race, which will help in managing those tires, and allow us to be able to push a bit more.”

“It’s a good track. I’m enjoying driving here and it went well today. We’ve been happy with our day. We need to look into finding a bit more pace on the long run, on high fuel, but low fuel looks to be very competitive. It’s a pretty low-grip track, so the car does a lot of things, like you do have a bit of understeer, and you do have a bit of oversteer. The car is moving around. That’s just how it is here, but our car seems to be working alright. Tire wear, in terms of actual wear, isn’t so bad, but degradation is high because the temperatures get very hot – you overheat the tires. We’ll work on that and, hopefully, make some steps, also I think the weather’s going to be a bit colder the next few days, so it might not be such a big problem. So far though, it all looks good.”

“Es war ein ziemlich guter Tag für uns. Wir haben die zwei freien Trainingseinheiten heute auf Platz 9 und Platz 8 beendet. Das Auto fühlt sich gut an, und ich fühle mich auf der Strecke wohl. Wir hatten gute Rundenzeiten, und es sieht so weit positiv aus. Wenn das Wetter so bleibt wie es zurzeit ist, wird es eine Herausforderung für uns alle sein, mit den hohen Temperaturen zurecht zu kommen. Wir müssen nun auf dem aufbauen, was wir heute gelernt haben, und uns auf die Vorbereitungen für morgen konzentrieren. Hoffentlich können wir wieder gute Resultate erzielen.“

“Quite a standard Friday for me. The car didn’t feel too bad out of the box, even if you could really tell that the tyres were suffering with these very hot conditions. It’s mainly been a case of refining the set-up today and we made progress, with more to come after we’ve looked at the figures this evening. We’re looking at how to maximise the new front wing as obviously every bit of pace and balance helps.”

“Things went well this afternoon and I got up to speed quickly. The information from Nicholas and Sergio this morning was useful and it was a pretty normal session. The main challenge was completing a clean lap with all the traffic, but we have done most of our homework today to help us get ready for the weekend.”

“It’s been a positive day. We collected a lot of information and I’m happy with how things are going so far. The main conclusion I take from today is that the middle of the grid is very close once again and we will need to optimise everything to make Q3 tomorrow. I feel optimistic we can find some more performance tonight and the conditions could change for the weekend – we think it’s going to be a bit cooler and there is talk of some rain. There is definitely a good opportunity for us to go well this weekend and be competitive.”

“It was frustrating to miss most of FP1, but my crew did a great job to find and fix the issue so I could get a great number of laps in FP2. The car doesn’t feel bad and our pace looked good on the long run. Nico tried the new front wing and it seems to be working. I will try it tomorrow and together with some fine tuning I hope we can be back in the top ten.”

“The pace was pretty good today. This morning I was quick and Max was fastest this afternoon while I focussed on long runs. We are looking quite good but obviously, I will be starting somewhere down at the back on Sunday due to the engine penalties. The priority today was to get a good race car as the reality is that Qualifying will be irrelevant for me and we’re going to be passing a fair few cars on Sunday. The race run I did just now was pretty good and the car feels strong. Whether one car starts at the front and one car at the back, if we have a fast car it is still motivating for Sunday. I prepared myself before the weekend knowing that I would probably take the penalties here and I’m actually pretty excited to come through the field and have a bit of fun, so I’ll find the right perspective from it all. For me it will be satisfying and for everyone watching it should be pretty fun as well.”

“Es lief heute gut. FP1 zu verpassen bringt zwar gewisse Nachteile, aber wir hatten eine problemfreie zweite freie Trainingseinheit in der wir unser geplantes Programm abarbeiten konnten. Das Auto fühlt sich gut an, und wir haben eine solide Basis auf der wir nun aufbauen können. Unsere Performance heute war gut, und wir waren wieder, wie auch in den vergangenen Wochen, im Mittelfeld. Morgen und am Sonntag wird es eng. Wir müssen sicherstellen, dass wir an beiden Tagen das Maximum aus unserer Performance herausholen können. Ich freue mich auf das restliche Wochenende.“

"Overall, it was a difficult day for us in terms of pace. There isn't much to say other than we need to work really hard to find more grip, which is what we are struggling with at the moment. The only thing we can do is to try and work as efficiently as possible to improve the car's performance for tomorrow."

"It was really enjoyable to drive Hockenheim for the first time in a Formula 1 car. I felt pretty strong in both sessions, particularly at the end of FP2 during the high fuel long run. I think I was one of the stronger cars in the midfield which is a real positive. Again, it's extremely tight on short run pace in the midfield, I think it's just two or three tenths to get to the top 10. I didn't get everything together on my best lap, but if we do our homework tonight I think we can aim to move up a few places tomorrow."

“We tested a lot of things today and we probably compromised our final positions because of that. We have been in quite a good place on Friday in the last couple of races, and it’s a matter of fact that with two or three tenths you can lose or gain a lot of positions. Here in Hockenheim we’ve lost a few positions. “Hopefully this will change tomorrow, and there could be some rain around qualifying time, which is a big question mark. It’s going to be cooler, cloudy and maybe even wet, so if that happens it opens up an opportunity for the midfield group and you can gamble a little bit more.”

“Overall I’m quite pleased with my second FP1 session. Already from the first lap I felt more comfortable with the car and the whole race team environment after my first experience in Montreal. I know the track well and it was a straightforward session with some aero test items and tyre work. I chipped away at the performance lap after lap and from a personal point of view I felt more at ease compared to Montreal and felt more competitive. Obviously I will build on this experience so that I’m ready for the next time I’m back in the car for an FP1 session later in the year. ”

We have learnt quite a lot today and obviously what happens will depend on the conditions tomorrow. If the wind picks up then things will change. Today was all right, we tried some new bits on the car and had a new front wing. It was interesting, but now we need to look into it and see what we do for tomorrow. With the hotter weather we are going to have to do some tyre management in the race. It will be interesting due to the step in compound from the ultrasoft to the soft. Maybe this will mix things up and maybe the quicker guys can get into Q3 on the soft and then their race will be set.

“Es war ein positiver Tag, und es ist schön nach längerer Zeit wieder im Auto zu sitzen. Ich habe die freie Trainingseinheit heute sehr genossen. Mein Ziel war es, das geplante Programm abzuarbeiten, und dem Team gutes Feedback zu geben. Ich bin damit zufrieden, und kann es kaum erwarten, nächste Woche wieder im Auto zu sein und auf dieser Erfahrung aufzubauen.“

Today we had a very busy programme in both sessions, whereby we mainly focused on the front wing. We found some very interesting and positive things which in return gave us better pace to work with. Overall, it is a good step in the right direction. It is up to us to go through the results tonight so that we can get the maximum out of the car tomorrow. For sure we are at the beginning of a positive road ahead.

“This morning we did a lot of testing of new parts on the car to understand them a bit better, so we didn’t have much running in the first session. We were doing some learning work for the team, and it has been beneficial to understand them for the future. “In the afternoon, we again had a difficult session. This has probably been my worst Friday for a long time – I had a similar feeling to what I had at Silverstone, that something isn’t working properly on the car. We can see that the car is not in its normal conditions, and at the moment it’s a bit of a question mark for us to firstly put the car back to a position where it behaves normally, and then to see how we’ll get on, on Saturday. “There’s going to be a lot of data analysis tonight to understand how to get the car back in normal conditions for tomorrow, and we’ll probably change quite a lot of parts on the car. “If the rain comes tomorrow, it’ll be good news for us.”