Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

Jedes Mal, wenn wir nach Suzuka kommen, aber ganz besonders in den vergangenen Jahren, werden die Autos immer schneller – das ist einfach fantastisch. Solche Strecken gibt es nicht mehr – es gibt nur wenige Auslaufzonen, du kommst nur leicht aufs Gras und schon landest du in der Mauer. Suzuka gehört zu meinen absoluten Lieblingsstrecken, vielleicht ist es sogar meine Lieblingsstrecke. Sie ist einfach richtig cool. Das gilt besonders im ersten und zweiten Sektor, die der absolute Wahnsinn sind. Der erste Sektor ist die beste Achterbahnfahrt, die ich je in einem Formel 1-Auto erlebt habe. Die Balance war ziemlich gut und ich konnte es richtiggehend genießen. Jedes Jahr gibt es Bereiche, in denen ich mich verbessern kann. Deshalb sagte ich mir: „Es gibt zwei oder drei Kurven, in denen ich es in diesem Jahr bringen muss.“ Und damit habe ich direkt angefangen. In diesen Kurven war ich sehr viel besser als je zuvor. Jetzt muss ich so weitermachen und daran arbeiten. Mein Team und ich arbeiten beim Feintuning des Autos sehr gut zusammen. Hier zu fahren macht mir so viel Spaß wie noch nie. Wenn ich ins Auto steige, ist es einfach ein fantastisches Gefühl. Es ist so schnell und ich bin unheimlich dankbar, dass ich die Gelegenheit habe, das zu tun, was ich mache. Ich habe mich heute den ganzen Tag über bedankt, weil ich das hier schon immer machen wollte.

Es macht immer sehr viel Spaß, auf der Strecke in Suzuka zu fahren. Das Auto fühlte sich recht gut an, obwohl es für mich im ersten Training besser war als im zweiten. Es liegt eine lange Nacht vor uns, um alle Veränderungen, die wir vorgenommen haben, zu untersuchen und das richtige Setup zu finden. Aber alles in allem fühlte sich das Auto in allen Sektoren gut an. Ich hatte nur ein paar Schwierigkeiten mit der Balance und hatte ein wenig mit Untersteuern zu kämpfen. Insgesamt war es aber ein guter Start ins Wochenende. Es ist jedoch schwer, zu sagen, wo wir im Vergleich zu den anderen Teams stehen. Im Qualifying wird es immer enger. Deshalb werden wir weiter hart arbeiten, um uns bestmöglich zu steigern. Das Wetter wird morgen wahrscheinlich anders sein. Entsprechend war es für alle gut, dass wir einen trockenen Freitag hatten. Denn so sollen die Bedingungen auch am Sonntag sein. Im Rennen soll es auch viel wärmer werden. Es wird also anders, aber zumindest konnten wir heute genügend bei trockenen Verhältnissen fahren. Dadurch spielt es keine Rolle, wenn es morgen nass sein sollte. Auf dieser Strecke ist es selbst im Trockenen sehr einfach, Fehler zu machen. Ein kleiner Fehler und schon fliegst du ab. Im Nassen ist es noch zehnmal schwieriger. Suzuka ist eine der schwierigsten Strecken im Nassen. Der Kurs ist dann viel unberechenbarer, besonders, wenn es stark regnet oder Wasser auf der Strecke steht. Wenn es im Qualifying morgen nass ist, dürfte es sehr interessant werden.

“All in all I am satisfied, as I think this Friday has been a smooth one for us, but we aren’t fast enough yet. Today we tried something with the car, which seemed to give a better feeling, so let’s see if we can carry this over tomorrow and find something else, too. Today I think the car slid a little bit too much, thus damaging the tires, but I believe that, overall it was a clean session with no interruptions. We are trying to get the best out of our package, so we keep focusing on our job. Tonight we have to work hard because we need to be fast in qualifying. Obviously, if the others are as strong tomorrow as they were today, then it will be very hard, but we’ll see. Rain could make things more interesting tomorrow, but for now we keep working hard, doing our job and then we’ll see. It’s a long weekend and today is only Friday, so I am sure there’s still a bit to squeeze out of the car”.

“We have some work to do ahead of tomorrow as I wasn’t totally satisfied with the feeling in the car today. Both short and long runs didn’t feel ideal, it may look closer on paper but I know we can improve. I was running a different rear wing to Daniel which meant less downforce. If we can find a compromise between straight line speed and rear grip then it will put us in a stronger position for the rest of the weekend. Here in Suzuka you need to be confident in the grip in order to attack the corners. It’s only Friday so we have time to make the changes and find a good balance ahead of qualifying. I think we can get close to Ferrari and challenge during the race but Mercedes seem too far ahead at the moment.”

“This has been a normal Friday, both in terms of the things we tried and of engine usage. We have been focusing on trying to get the best set-up for the car and towards the end of the session it felt better to drive, but for sure we have some work to do before tomorrow. I don’t know if it will be raining or not during P3 and Qualifying, we’ll have to see what the weather brings”.

“It was a pretty solid day and there are some promising signs. On the low fuel runs we can be better but I don’t think we’re looking too bad. My sector one was slow as I had traffic on my fast lap and we can be better there for sure. On the straight we still lose a bit to the front runners, even if we ran the same downforce, they have a bit more power so coming up to Turn 1 we already lose a bit. We gain a little bit back in the corners but I think tomorrow if it’s dry you will see a better sector one from us. The long runs seemed more consistent and I was happier with that. Qualifying here is important as it’s not easy to overtake and there could be rain tomorrow, although they said it would rain today and it didn’t, so I don’t really know what to expect. Max ran a smaller rear wing to me today and we had different downforce levels, on one lap there may not be that much difference but I seemed happier with the car on the long runs. Everything ran well and it’s been fun. It’s a really good circuit and with these fast cars, as you can see from my smile, it’s very enjoyable.”

“It was a solid day of work to start our Suzuka weekend and I am happy with what we achieved. I am particularly excited because I think there’s still a bit more to come from our side and we can improve the car balance ahead of qualifying. This is a very difficult track to get right when it comes to the set-up, so it will be a challenge for us to get all the details right. The track is mega quick, even more so than last year. It’s very enjoyable to drive. Precision is very important as it’s very easy to make mistakes. You need to be at one with the car, which is never easy, but it’s so rewarding when you get it right.”

“It’s been a good day. It’s great that we got a lot of running in the dry – we were not expecting it. When we came in this morning, we thought that FP1 might be dry but FP2 would be wet. I think the weather’s getting better for tomorrow, as well. It’s such an amazing track to drive. You want to get as many laps as you can, so I’m very happy with that. The car seems to be working pretty well, on low fuel and high fuel. We have a few bits and pieces to adapt for tomorrow to make sure we get a bit of extra performance but, generally, I’m happy with the day.”

“Es war ein guter Freitag. Es ist schön wieder in Suzuka zu sein, denn die Rennstrecke hier habe ich am liebsten. Das Auto hat sich heute gut angefühlt und allgemein waren beide Trainingseinheiten positiv. Wir scheinen recht konkurrenzfähig zu sein und haben eine gute Basis, auf der wir das restliche Wochenende aufbauen können.”

"I had a really enjoyable first day in Suzuka. I spent the first couple of runs in FP1 getting up to speed with the track and I really like it around here. We made a few changes during the session that was clearly in the right direction, and we made a good step to get the car more in line with how I like it for FP2. The pace looks quite competitive as I finished the session in P10, so it's a positive feeling heading into tomorrow."

“It’s a super feeling to be driving at Suzuka in these cars. It’s one of the greatest tracks and every lap, even in practice, is really enjoyable. The day was pretty normal in terms of the work we did, but there is more to be done to make sure I feel comfortable with the car. We tried quite a lot of things with the set-up and we saw that Esteban was quite competitive so there is already a good baseline for tomorrow. Qualifying is going to be crucial. Putting together the perfect lap isn’t easy and I really want us to be up there as best of the rest tomorrow. The weather is uncertain, but we will just take it as it comes.”

“Suzuka is a great track to drive and it always puts a smile on my face. It was a pretty slick day behind the wheel and the car’s been working as we expected it to. The tyres were easy to understand in their performance, so now all we have to do is unlock the maximum performance from the set-up for tomorrow.”

"It was a good morning as I was able to do a few laps and get a good feeling with the car, which was positive. We had some really good data, but unfortunately we ran into some trouble this afternoon so we didn't complete many laps in FP2. I was only able to do one push lap for performance and then a couple of laps for the long run, which means I didn't learn too much. It's good that Brendon had a clean session so we can use his data to improve the performance and get a good result for Qualifying tomorrow."

“In general I think it was a pretty straightforward Friday for us with no big issues. In the morning the car felt quite good and we completed a strong programme whilst in the afternoon we were lacking a bit of pace. We made changes through the day so I am confident we know where to look for those extra tenths. Having said that, we do need to work hard tonight if we want to be competitive for the rest of the weekend.”

“Der Tag war in Ordnung. Während FP1 für mich positiv war, war FP2 für Marcus positiv. Dies zeigt uns, dass unser Auto hier konkurrenzfähig sein kann und recht stark ist. Es ist schade, dass die zweite Trainingseinheit für mich nicht so glatt lief. Am Anfang von FP2 hatten wir ein kleines mechanisches Problem und danach recht viel Verkehr vor uns. Wir arbeiten nun daran, bis morgen einen weiteren Schritt nach vorne zu machen, wie wir es sonst auch von Freitag auf Samstag tun. Die Strecke selbst ist sehr interessant und fordernd und ich habe es genossen zum ersten Mal hier zu fahren. Hier geht es vor allem um das Timing und den Rhythmus und ich freue mich darauf, morgen wieder im Auto zu sein und um gute Resultate zu kämpfen.”

“It’s been a happy birthday. I’ve been driving a Formula One car around Suzuka. It’s been a decent day. We have some stuff to look at overnight. I think the car is up there. Force India looks a bit fast, but we’ll see how we go tomorrow. It’s very close in the midfield, but I haven’t really had any good laps in today. That’s often the case on Friday. Romain got some good laps and showed what the maximum is in the car – probably not quite as fast as the Force Indias, but up there, definitely. The balance isn’t perfect, but the grip is pretty good. That’s why we have some stuff to look at tonight to try and fine tune the details. Hopefully, we’ll find a little bit of time tomorrow.”

“It’s always nice to be back here. “The circuit feels always amazing in these cars and today was good learning. Most of our preparation work today was on next year’s project, so a lot of information to gather about the car. “Since Hungary, we have basically been using Friday sessions to do some tests to ensure that the car for next season works in the right way. This means it’s a little bit more frustrating in terms of finding the best performance this weekend, but it’s good information for the team – and we’ll see tomorrow where we are. “The weather will play a big factor tomorrow and some rain would help us, as it looks like in dry conditions we’ll suffer.”

Today was my first time in an F1 car around Suzuka and it was mega. I know there’s a lot of speculation about how good it is, but it really is pretty amazing. It’s a mega experience for me and I really enjoyed it as it’s a very demanding track. To do a qualifying lap requires all your physical and mental energy, and unfortunately, I think this is what we sometimes miss a lot from modern F1 tracks. It’s a pleasure to face this challenge here. I think we need to look a bit closer at today’s performance. I ran on supersofts during FP1 and as you can imagine, there was not much left from the tyre at the end, it’s the softest tyre in the range. I think we’re in a reasonable position, so if we do everything right, and the conditions suit us, we’ll be on the edge of the Q1 cut-off. It will be a mega job if we do it, but that’s the target.

It was good today. It is always fun driving here, as the track is just mega and in my top three. As regards pleasure in the car, this track is up there as one of the best and you can really feel the car working. We will see what tomorrow brings, there may be a bit of rain, but we have to sort out a few things to be a bit more competitive. I think getting into Q2 will be challenging, but we will try as you never know. For sure rain would be nice just to mix things up.

“Today was fun. It’s my first time here in Japan and at Suzuka. It’s an awesome track, and probably the one I’ve most looked forward to this season, especially since I got told I was coming here. It’s definitely lived up to its expectations. The whole track is quite unique and especially the first sector – into Degner so Turn Eight and Turn Nine – so I was enjoying it a lot. “It was a good experience today and I learned the track, so when I come back next year I’ll feel much more comfortable straight away. Today I was testing some different aero things on the car – some for next year and some for this weekend. There’s a lot of things learned from my side and for the team, so it’s been a good day. “This would be a cool track in a Formula 3 or Formula 2 car, but it wouldn’t be as cool as it is in Formula 1. With the downforce and speeds you have in Formula 1 it’s pretty insane how quick it is. It takes you a few laps to prepare every corner because you don’t have time to react so easily to every left-right. It does take you a bit of time to get used to, but the whole track put together – especially the whole of Sector One and the beginning of Sector Two – makes it one of the best tracks I’ve driven. “As much as FP1 is preparation for me next year, my job I still to drive well, not make mistakes, give good feedback to the engineers, and improve the car for this weekend and especially for next year. I’m doing all I can to make sure I’m not just enjoying it and having fun, but treating it like it’s my only session to prepare for a qualifying session. It’s about making sure every lap counts and not doing anything stupid.”

“It’s nice to be back in Suzuka. It’s a great circuit to drive on, and one of the best feelings we can have in a Formula 1 car. For me, I only did FP2 so I was getting to grips with the car and the circuit again, and putting the pieces together. We’ll see how everything pans out tomorrow. “The focus for me was to try out all the tyre compounds today, and maybe tomorrow it will be raining so we’ll see what happens. “Not being in FP1 gives you a bit of a different approach to the weekend. You have to rely on the data the team has gathered during FP1 even though you haven’t been in the car yourself, so you have to trust the direction they’re going in and go with the learning they have done.”