Fahrerstimmen – Tag 1

Overall it was a positive day as I was able to complete our programme and work on car balance and the set-up, especially in FP1.
In the second session we had to run the C4 compound and we collected good data, particularly on race pace. FP3 will be very important to fine tune the car for qualifying as we still have some margin for improvement, but today's start was encouraging.

Friday done. It felt pretty good, and I think we made some good changes in FP2, which made a positive impact on the feeling in the car, so I’m happy with it. It was interesting to get some running in with the tyres for next year, and there were good learnings all around. We seem to be reasonably competitive, and I think we’re in good shape going into tomorrow.

It was a great day, finishing P3 in both sessions for the first time this year. In FP1 I felt good straight away. FP2 was the tyre test, and to be in the top three again felt good. Hopefully we can still improve and fine tune tomorrow. We’re aiming for Q3. So far, we’re top of the midfield and that’s where we want to be. Especially as we fight with Haas for P6 in the Championship. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow and we’ll keep our minds sharp. So far, it’s a good start.

It was a tricky day from my side. It was planned for me to miss FP1, which was a good one to miss on paper, as we thought we would make up for it in FP2 given that it was 30 minutes longer than usual. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that extra running time to make up for it due to the red flag after George’s (Russell) incident at the start of FP2.
Things like this can happen, now we are already focused on maximising our result in qualifying as starting positions are crucial on this track. The pace was there from the start and I felt comfortable in the car, so let’s see what position we can secure tomorrow

An okay start to the weekend in Mexico. I think not doing FP1 was always going to leave me with the job of getting an understanding of the tyres in the extended FP2, but overall, we’re there or thereabouts. Oscar was quick today which gives us confidence as a team going into tomorrow’s session. I feel like I’ve got a little bit of work to do, but we’ll work hard on that overnight.

It was hard as you can’t read too much into FP2, but it didn’t seem bad so that’s the positive. The car felt good and we made improvements from FP1 to FP2, when we were running on test tires, so we can hope the best for tomorrow. I think it’s still very tight out there, we weren’t the fastest midfield car in FP2, but I think the update seems to be working. In Mexico, here compared to last year with the cooling, it’s a very big difference, it’s much better this season. That’s a good feeling and hopefully we can be in the fight for points.

It was great to see Kimi do a really solid job for the team in FP1. It’s been enjoyable working with and supporting him ahead of the session and the programme he carried out set us up well for the afternoon. It’s not always easy to get straight up to speed having missed that opening practice but I got a good feeling from the car in FP2.

With the tyre test, we couldn’t change anything on the car during the session. The red flag following George’s crash almost meant we lost a decent chunk of running time. Nevertheless, I feel like we got a lot of good information to work through and utilise this evening as we look to make improvements for the rest of the weekend.

I think today was positive from the first run onwards, as I had good confidence in the car. The gaps are extremely small, and the thin air means certain elements of aerodynamic efficiency are minimised, so the cars are naturally closer together - which could present an opportunity for us in the rest of the weekend. We seem quite okay on single lap pace, but still have work to do on the long runs. Now we just need to find more performance for tomorrow and see where we are.

It is not feeling great, we have a few issues with the ride in the low speed. We still have some work to do, we are still really far from the top. The crowd is amazing here and I wish we were a little bit more competitive for them, but that is not the case unfortunately. You never know, tomorrow with the track changing anything can really happen. I hope for qualifying we are able to extract more from the car and give them something to really cheer about.

It’s been a very positive day for the team. We’ll find out more tomorrow, but it’s nice to see the stint we made last week is transitioning into this weekend. From our side we have a little bit more to find, but luckily, we have plenty of track time this weekend with the other session tomorrow morning to try and make the most of that. Hopefully by Quali we’ll have a car that’s in a good window to get some points.

It's good to be back and I've not been feeling 100% over the last few days. Today I did feel okay in the car, but it's very physically demanding driving an F1 car. Mexico City is always a nice race weekend and of course a double celebration here with the 400 Grands Prix. In general FP2 was a mixed feeling with the tyre testing and I don't think we can have any conclusions yet. We expect a difficult weekend as it's a tough circuit for our package, but we will give it our all.

I wanted to deliver a clean FP1 session for the team today and I was pleased that I was able to do that. It was my first time driving the circuit here, so I stayed very much within the limit and just built my confidence lap-by-lap. Overall, it was a decent hour, and, despite the red flags, we gathered lots of data that will hopefully help the team over the rest of the weekend.

I was also able to build my understanding of the W15 too. We ran both the Hard and Soft compound and it was good to get a mixture of consecutive running and single lap work completed. Whilst there aren’t any more FP1 sessions for me to take part in this year, I’m looking forward to continuing my programme with previous cars as we build towards 2025.

It was a bit of a different and unique Friday in that sense, but the car felt pretty positive, and I was competitive in FP1, while Kevin was very competitive in FP2. If we put it together, it looks like we can fight around the top 10. We’ll now try to clean up the set-up and try to find a bit more performance. We take last week’s momentum into here but it’s a different track with different conditions, so we need to work for it and earn it.

Today was a positive day, I felt comfortable in the car straight away and the grip felt much better in comparison to previous years at this track. Free Practice 1 was a good session, we were in the top 10, but of course we do not fully know the potential of others so we will continue to work hard and keep progressing the performance of our car. With the Pirelli prototype tyre test and the set run plan in Free Practice 2, it’s difficult to make too many comparisons. Even so, there is always something to learn when the car is on track and, hopefully, we can have a productive final Practice tomorrow and be in the mix ahead of Qualifying.

A fabulous day today really, I very much enjoyed my FP1 outing in Mexico. The crowd was unbelievable, and I’m super happy that I was able to extract everything from the programme that the team had planned. It was great to be able to support Lando, Oscar and the team in learning and set-up, and contribute in a positive way to the weekend. I can’t wait to see what the team can do tomorrow and in the race on Sunday.

It's been a busy day on track with the usual Friday work focussing on set-up. We ran several cross-car comparison tests to get more of an understanding of our recent updates, so we'll look through that data tonight. In terms of pace, we didn't feel especially competitive so we've got work to do ahead of Qualifying tomorrow.

It’s been a good first day here in Mexico. We made some changes between sessions however the car felt a little bit less alive, so we’ll look at that tonight. Overall, the key today was to get used to the track and get up to speed which went well. We’re going in the right direction, so we’ll keep building tomorrow.

It’s been a busy day of Practice here in Mexico City, especially with the extended session for Pirelli prototype tyre testing this afternoon. I’ve not felt completely comfortable in the car throughout the day and there are definitely a few areas we need to improve. It’s generally quite a tricky track to get right with the conditions and we made some improvements between the two sessions, which we will aim to carry forwards for tomorrow. Free Practice 3 will be important tomorrow morning, where we need to keep refining the set-up and aim to put ourselves in a decent position ahead of Qualifying.

It was a frustrating day today. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow but I’m hoping we’re not too far behind given FP2 was a Pirelli test, so hopefully the lack of track time today is less compromising. Regarding the incident, I think Ollie got told that I was behind him too late and tried his best to speed up into the high-speed corners, but I just caught him at the worst part of the track and there wasn’t much I could’ve done to avoid it. We’ll put it behind us as a racing incident and hopefully turn things around for tomorrow.

Missing FP1 today and jumping straight into Pirelli testing with the upgraded package made it challenging, but even with limited track time, we’re in a good spot. My lap time came early in the run, so there’s plenty of room to improve as we dial in the setup. We’re not far off the pace, and with some adjustments to the balance, we can definitely improve our performance. Overall, it’s a step forward, and I’m looking forward to more racing this weekend.

It was my first time in the AMR24 so I took a couple of laps to feel the car and get comfortable with it, especially with the wind and lower grip corners, but after that I was able to push. It was great to be back in an Formula One car. I got some good running at the end of the session, but we definitely lost out on a few laps due to the red flags. I'm happy with how it went though; I collected the data that the team needs to understand the updates and I know where I can improve for next time. Thanks again to the team for their support today - it's always a pleasure working with everyone trackside.

It was a big hit, and I felt a bit winded initially. I’m OK but unfortunately the car wasn’t. I am not sure what happened. I turned into the corner, trying to cut the line similarly to how I did in FP1. I’m not sure whether it was the kerb or the car bottoming out but it bounced a little and, before I had a chance to catch it, I was already in the wall.

There is a lot of work on for the team in the garage overnight now, unfortunately. It does feel like it is one thing after another at the moment. It is frustrating as we were strong in FP1 and topped the times. We lost out on a lot of laps in FP2 so FP3 will be important for us to get the car in a good place ahead of Qualifying and Sunday’s race.

Not an ideal Friday here in Mexico. We are investigating a power unit issue further, and unfortunately this cut our day short. We never really got a good run, especially in FP2, where I only did four laps. There is not much to read in to or say about the sessions today. Hopefully we are able to make some progress overnight and be in a good position for FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow.

First of all, I’m always grateful to get time running in a Formula One car and to work closely with the Team so a big thanks to Ferrari and Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber for another great opportunity. Going into the session today we had specific targets in terms of collecting data and running through as much testing as possible, but unfortunately, red flags interrupted our run plan and cut the session short. The crash happened right in front of me as I was on a push lap and I’m just glad everyone involved is okay. The car felt good overall and it's great working with the team, so it was a positive experience.

Unfortunately, FP1 did not go as we expected today as our session was cut short after an incident with Alex (Albon). It’s a shame, because this track is an interesting one and I was looking forward to gaining some more experience in the SF-24, but these things happen and they are part of racing. I'm looking forward to seeing what our team can do in qualifying tomorrow.