Pierre Gasly: "The layout is really different, it feels like a new track with a lot more high-speed corners, so it's really cool. We tried some different things with the car today, but I still haven't felt that great, so we've got some work to do for tomorrow."

Yuki Tsunoda: "I've already driven here for the Young Driver Test last year and of course knowing the track beforehand always helps with my approach to the weekend, which hasn't always been the case this season. I'm really enjoying the new layout of this circuit, we've still got some things to work on but I think the pace so far is quite good. We've got a lot of data across the two cars, so we're in a good position to continue to improve tomorrow. My aim is to get through to Q3 in Quali again, as we're looking quite strong here and then our race pace is looking good also, so we just need to put it altogether when it counts."

Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "There have been a number of changes made to the circuit since 2020, so we spent the majority of FP1 understanding how these affect the circuit characterisation, with fewer low-speed corners and now more medium speed left handers. We were concerned that graining could be an issue with the softest tyre choice, especially in FP2 with cooler track temperatures, but they held up better than expected, so we will need to see how that impacts Qualifying and the race. We tested some alternative setup directions across the two sessions with both cars and focused more on the long run pace. This meant our short run competitiveness wasn't quite where we typically are for a Friday, but we expect to make an improvement tomorrow, once we have analysed all of the data and put the optimum car setup together."

Check out our Friday gallery from Yas Marina, here.