Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

It’s been a busy first day here in Singapore. We managed to complete the full run plan but we also faced some challenges, particularly with the setup and car balance. We didn’t find the right window for FP1, but we managed to improve the feeling with the car for FP2.
We still need to do some work and find some lap time, especially for the long runs. It seems we are up for a tight battle at the top so we need to try to maximise every aspect of the weekend.

Our performance was good, but unfortunately, we had limited running today. It isn’t ideal, so we have to make sure we have a clean FP3 so as to also work on our race pace.
Our qualifying pace looks strong and we will target pole.

Auf dem Papier war es ein vielversprechender Tag für uns, aber das hat noch nichts zu bedeuten. Alles in allem lief es heute okay, aber wir haben definitiv noch eine Menge Arbeit vor uns. Diese Strecke ist sehr einzigartig und die Bedingungen hier sind knifflig. Es ist sehr heiß und man fühlt sich immer ein bisschen schwindlig, wenn man aus dem Auto steigt. Der Streckenbelag ist sehr holprig, und ich glaube, dass jeder bis zu einem gewissen Grad damit zu kämpfen hat. Wir wissen, dass das ein Schwachpunkt unseres Autos ist, zusätzlich sind die Reifen hier ziemlich empfindlich. Ich war überrascht über das Gripniveau auf der neuen Streckenoberfläche, und ich bin davon überzeugt, dass sich die Strecke im Laufe des Wochenendes weiter verbessern wird. Ich bin sicher, dass es im Qualifying eine große Steigerung von Q1 zu Q3 geben wird. Wenn es uns morgen gelingt, den Nagel auf den Kopf zu treffen, können wir im Qualifying sehr viel Rundenzeit finden, und wir alle wissen, wie wichtig die Qualifying-Performance auf dieser Strecke ist. Wir sind optimistisch und werden über Nacht hart arbeiten. 

I think we started out quite well in FP1 and then in FP2 we wanted to try a few things out but they just took a bit longer to change, and then we wanted to try something else and that also took quite a long time to change. We couldn’t run a lot so it wasn’t very representative of what we can do. Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement and we still need to analyse whether the changes we made worked or not. I think where it matters most is tomorrow and how quick we can be over one lap.

Der heutige Tag begann im ersten Training gut, aber in der zweiten Session lief es nicht mehr so gut. Das Auto ist so, wie es ist, und wir hüpfen viel herum, aber es fühlt sich nicht so an, als ob wir an diesem Wochenende einen großen Rückstand hätten. An der Steifigkeit des Autos können wir mit den uns zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln nicht allzu viel ändern, aber bei der Abstimmung können wir noch mehr Zeit finden. Mit dem Setup, das ich heute hatte, hatte ich blockierende Räder. Das werden wir heute Abend beheben, damit wir morgen wiederkommen und es besser machen können. Die Bedingungen hier sind knifflig, ich fühle mich nach den Trainings definitiv dehydriert, ein bisschen schwer und sehr heiß. Aber das größte Problem ist nicht die körperliche Herausforderung, sondern das Auto für das morgige Qualifying ins richtige Fenster zu bekommen.

There’s really nothing quite like driving in Singapore and it’s great to be back here after a few years. After both practice sessions today, it’s again quite clear how much of a challenge this track is physically with the heat and humidity so I think most drivers will have been pleased with having those extra few days of preparation ahead of the race weekend. On track, we had a strong day testing the new upgrades and are relatively happy with how our programme went today. It’s good to see that the track was not as bumpy as we perhaps thought it was going to be, especially with these cars. We look forward to coming back tomorrow and having another solid day to be in the best position for Sunday’s race.

It’s been quite a positive Friday, a clean day in which we could go through all our programme nicely and do lots of laps. Our pace looks quite decent and it’s nice to see we are in a condition to fight for Q3 tomorrow. It was interesting to have our first outing with the new cars here: the track felt a bit bumpy, but I was expecting more. I was still able to enjoy the track and had some good fun. Of course, there’s more pace to find tonight: analysing the gaps between the tyre compounds will be crucial, but we had a good start and we can build on that.

It was not an ideal day for us with some limited running in the first practice, after the issue with the gearbox. Generally, Free Practice 2 was good and even though we are a little behind schedule with the limited track time, I think we are in a good place and I’m quite confident for tomorrow. Our car upgrade seems to be working well so far, but we will continue to analyse all of the data tonight and tomorrow.

We lost a bit of track time in FP2 and had some issues with the engine reliability and then we made some set-up changes. So, we have a lot of information to get through tonight and we’ll pick out the best bits for tomorrow to try and do the best we can. I felt more comfortable in FP1and I was quicker in that session, so I think there is some good data for us to look to there. We knew Mercedes and Ferrari were both going to be strong and we will see what we are able to do tomorrow come qualifying, it should be interesting.

Driving in Singapore is always good fun, but it is also really demanding in very hot conditions. I brushed the wall in FP1 today, but fortunately we did not damage the car too much. We did some important homework, especially in the second session, and I think this is going to be a race of opportunity. We will go through the data tonight and see where we can make some progress before qualifying tomorrow.

Tough day, just because of the temperature and the challenges of Singapore, but I think good that we’ve got a good understanding of the new bits on the car. They’re performing as expected, which is in some ways similar to the way the car felt before the update, with just some small tweaks in the way that it works, and acts, which is what we want. The pace is not looking like it’s there at the minute, we’ve got a lot to find if we want to get into Q3 tomorrow, more than normal, but we’ll give it a good shot, work hard overnight and see what we can unlock.

It is nice to be back here driving on a circuit that I really enjoy. You have to take some time to get into the rhythm, but it will be Saturday and Sunday that are the days that count. I struggled a little bit to put everything together today, but if I can put it all together tomorrow then we should be in the mix for a good result this weekend.

I think it was a good day. It seemed like we were a little more competitive than we have been recently so that’s good. There’s still stuff that isn’t optimal yet which we’re working on but despite that, it seems to be alright. I think mostly because of the cars you have to relearn the track a bit, but it hasn’t changed, the bumps are still in the same places and it’s remarkably similar to what it was three years ago. It’s good to be back and it’s a fun track to drive.

I’m loving this track, it’s a really special place and very technical. It obviously wasn’t ideal to have the small fire when we connected the fuel breather, as we lost some running, but it was easily put out, ultimately it just burnt some paint, and we could get back out on track fairly soon after. Overall, on the performance side we’re not that happy right now, we were quite far back in FP2, and we didn’t have the pace to make it into the top 10 this evening, so we need to find something more for tomorrow. We brought some small upgrades here this weekend, which we’ll need to now go away and analyse some more, so we can get the most out of them moving forward.

In general, our day has been smooth, a good start: we need to do another step forward tomorrow and we’ll be in a position to have a good qualifying. It was interesting to have my first taste of Singapore, and the conditions were quite extreme. This track is really hard, you hardly have any time to catch your breath as you have corner after corner and they’re all complex: it’s hard, but also really enjoyable. The humidity and the heat you feel in the cockpit are an added challenge: I was prepared for this, but it’s something you really feel. We can have a similar climate in China, but it’s been a while since I was in these conditions! It’s not only the physical side that is interesting here: the mental side is equally important on such a technical track, a bit like in Miami. I am looking forward to qualifying tomorrow: it will be special for me to race in front of my family and all the Chinese fans who are here.

We had a good amount of long runs but know it’s a quarter of what we’ll be doing come Sunday, so I’ll take advantage of the rest tomorrow.
We know where we’re struggling with the car but think it has more potential in it, despite coming here knowing we’re a little more behind what we had in Monza. This is a downforce sensitive circuit which doesn’t tend to go in our favour, with 23 corners there’s not a lot of time to get that lap time back.
We’ve got some research and homework to do tonight and think Q2 would be a big success tomorrow.

It’s a shame we had to finish FP2 early, as I’m still getting to know this track and obviously wanted as much time to learn as possible, but we had a fuel system issue, so we had to come in to start fixing that ahead of tomorrow. I’ve really enjoyed my first time driving here, it’s a bit of a mixture between Monaco and Baku, it’s really tricky, the conditions are tough and it’s obviously quite bumpy, but it’s fun. It looks like it’s going to start getting a bit cooler and maybe we’ll have some rain on Sunday, but for now my focus is to maximise FP3, so I ensure I’m as prepared as possible heading into Qualifying.

Singapore, it’s nice to be back. It’s hot of course but it didn’t feel too brutal today, and I felt like I got through the day OK. It’s been a while since we were here and we’ve got a bit of work to do tonight. We’re obviously quite slow and struggling quite a lot, especially tonight. So, we’ve got some work ahead of us. We’ll try to make the best of what we’ve got, but certainly it was a tricky afternoon session. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, it’s hard to know now but I think we’ll definitely make changes on the car, try to find a bit more comfort and speed in it and go from there.

It was quite warm, especially in FP1, but it was great fun. I’m still learning the track and it’s very unique so it’s just a matter of getting used to it. On top of that, this year’s cars are a lot stiffer, so you really need to get to learn the bumps and how to approach them. It really is about driving and getting those laps in and knowing where to position the car, and if you get everything right, then you can get to work on the set-up. That’s what we’re planning on doing tonight, working on it until we feel we’re in a position where we feel comfortable and we’re able to extract the maximum.

I don’t have any reference points to this track before today but I think it’s going to be a challenge on Sunday, especially with the heat.
We had a bit of a messy day starting with a telemetry issue in FP1, which cost a bit of lap time and offset our run, followed by a seatbelt issue in FP2, requiring me to come back in. There are some things we tried which didn’t work so well but know there are some improvements to be made from my side before the weekend.