Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

“We were expecting not to find any sun in October here, but to miss out on both sessions was still a surprise. I was always meant to sit out of FP1, so in the end I missed only one session, but the team as a whole has no data to analyse which is a shame, especially on a track where we didn’t ran in recent years. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a better day – and some better weather! Qualifying and the race could be a bit of a surprise with the lack of data, so let’s see what happens.”

“Not a lot to say about today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go out due to safety conditions with the helicopter. It’s a shame not to drive in the wet because I always enjoy it, and not to get a feel with the new parts that we’re bringing this weekend. We’ll need to hit the ground running tomorrow and make sure we get everything on point to have a strong qualifying and race. It looks to be a different and challenging weekend compared to normal with the cold temperatures, wind and on a different track, so we’ll do our best to put everything together.”

“Unfortunately, from the moment I arrived in the paddock, it seemed pretty clear that we would not be going out of the garage. I had hoped we could have managed a few laps in the afternoon, especially as we had a few things to try on the car, but the situation didn’t change. It’s not great, but it’s the same for everyone and it could make things even more interesting. To pass the time in the afternoon, I doodled some drawings that you might be interested to see on my social channels. I saw them on the television screens, huddled in the grandstands, suffering in the cold and wet for nothing. It would have been nice to do at least a few laps for them.”

“I think Germany wanted to steal Imola’s limelight and become the first ever two-day race weekend. It’s a shame we didn’t get to drive today, but I’m not hugely impacted by it. I’ve stayed warm for a day, so that’s good. Tomorrow does look the driest of the three days so hopefully we should get some running in ahead of qualifying. The fans who came today might not have seen a lot, but if it’s drier tomorrow there could be a lot of excitement.”

“It’s been a long day with the conditions and unfortunately we could not do any running. I feel sorry for the fans who are here. I was watching them on TV and it’s very cold outside. I hope they stay and come along tomorrow when the weather should improve and, hopefully, we can show them what the cars are capable of here. I think tomorrow will be a bit more demanding with limited track time and tyres but that’s the same for everyone. It’ll be about who adapts the quickest. Even though we didn’t run today there are key decisions on strategy and things we still have to think about for the race weekend.”

It is a shame not to do any laps today, but it gives us a really exciting opportunity tomorrow to head into qualifying with only one hour of FP3 under our belts. It will probably be slippery conditions in FP3, possibly dry for qualifying and then wet for Sunday. It will be a very mixed weekend; I will be getting a good night’s sleep tonight to try and nail it tomorrow. I really feel for the fans and the supporters who have tuned in from all over the world to watch practice, so let’s hope we put on a good race for them on Sunday.

“It was frustrating not to get any running today. Of course, it’s not a disadvantage because nobody got to run, but still I was looking forward to getting on track. I feel for the fans that were here in the grandstands today. They’ve been sitting out all day today in the rain and they’ve had nothing for it. Hopefully we can put on a great show for the rest of the weekend.”

“We can’t really say much about today because we haven’t got any running at all, but nobody can change the weather anyway. Having driven here before will not make much of a difference, there are lots of drivers who have driven here in the past so it won’t be very difficult for everyone to get up to speed when we finally go out. Let’s see what we can do with just one hour of practice and what weather we get tomorrow.”

“It’s great to see fans back at the track again, but I’m disappointed they didn’t get to see any action. The teams haven’t raced here for a long time so there’s no data to fall back upon, and there’s extra pressure with just one practice session before qualifying. We also need to see what the weather does tomorrow. FP3 could start in damp conditions and qualifying could be dry so it’s going to be a day of reacting quickly and learning what we can to be ready for Sunday.”

“I think the main thing for us is that we had a few different parts on the car for this weekend. So, for all these parts we need the time to understand how they’re helping the car, what impact they have and whether we need to change the rest of the balance of the car for them. It will make our lives a bit more difficult tomorrow in FP3 to try to understand but also carry that information into qualifying. “Learning about tyres, the track and aerodynamics was our main plan for today, but it would’ve been tricky anyway in conditions like this in the rain: so much harder to get a good read of the car. I would’ve enjoyed driving today because these conditions are normally good fun. The weather’s still looking challenging for Sunday – and tomorrow possibly as well."

Wir konnten nicht rausfahren, weil es nicht sicher genug für den Rettungshelikopter war. Solche Tage sind enttäuschend, aber wir wären wahrscheinlich ohnehin nicht so viel gefahren, da unsere Anzahl an Reifen beschränkt ist und es danach aussieht, dass die Wetterbedingungen für den Rest des Wochenendes so bleiben werden. Ich wäre jedoch gerne wenigstens eine Installationsrunde gefahren. Das war jedoch für alle gleich. Ich habe versucht, mich den ganzen Tag lang zu beschäftigen. Roscoe ist hier mit dabei, also habe ich die Zeit mit ihm und etwas Musik verbracht. So eine Situation mit weniger Trainingszeit macht das Wochenende definitiv zu einer größeren Herausforderung und sorgt für mehr Spannung, besonders wenn es auch im Qualifying und Rennen nass bleibt. Darauf freue ich mich.

It was unfortunate we were not able to do any driving; I was looking forward to driving in these mixed conditions and get some more experience in the wet. Due to safety reasons we were not able to go out on track, which is a shame. I feel sorry for all the fans who were out in the cold and wet waiting for us to get some on track action, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Hopefully the conditions will be better tomorrow and we can make up for it.

“We have a sport that is weather dependent and today the weather wasn’t kind to us. It’s a shame for the young driver that was set for his first FP1, it’s a shame for the fans that came today, and for us too as we love driving these cars. Obviously, conditions didn’t allow us to go out so I guess there’s a lot of work to be done tomorrow.”

“It wasn’t the best of days. It was a bit tiresome, waiting for each next announcement without ever getting the okay to get in the car. I am sorry mainly for the fans and the two FDA guys who didn’t get to do a single lap. In the afternoon, in what should have been the second sessions, I had several chats, with my father who is here with me this weekend, with our Sporting Director and also with Mick, who said he was really upset at not being able to get in the car. I hope he’ll get another chance as soon as possible. Tomorrow, conditions should be similar but let’s hope we can at least go out for free practice at noon. It’s been seven years since we raced here and we would need to try the track before qualifying. It goes without saying the work schedule for tomorrow is looking pretty busy.”

“I feel sorry for the fans here and back at home who missed out today. There’s always a risk to racing this late in the year at the Nürburgring, so I hope the rest of the weekend goes smoothly and we can put on some entertainment for the fans. Today being a washout could make for an interesting weekend because teams won’t have the usual data from FP1 and FP2. We need to be ready to learn quickly and there could be more surprises as a result.”

Wir wären heute gerne gefahren, aber es hat nicht sollen sein. Wir haben schon in der Vergangenheit solche Tage erlebt, so etwas kann passieren. Auf das Wetter haben wir eben leider keinen Einfluss. Hoffentlich ist es an den nächsten Tagen besser, denn ich konnte die Fans heute da draußen in der Kälte warten sehen. Drücken wir die Daumen, dass sie morgen mehr Action geboten bekommen. Jetzt müssen wir im dritten Training sehr effizient arbeiten. Denn unser Programm hat sich dadurch natürlich komplett verändert. Wir müssen das Beste daraus machen, um die notwendigen Informationen auf kürzeren und längeren Runs zu sammeln. Das ist eine schöne Herausforderung für das Team, aber auch für uns Fahrer, denn wir müssen rasch und effizient auf alle Details achten. Dadurch wird das Wochenende sehr aufregend.