26/09/2008
NEWS STORY
The AT&T Williams team joined the chorus of approval for Formula One's first night racing experience following three hours of floodlight practice on the city centre street circuit in Singapore tonight. Both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima have found the ontrack conditions intensely physical, but it hasn't prevented the pair from making a solid start to the weekend's preparations with both cars in the top ten by the close of play.
Nico Rosberg: In general I think we can be quite happy with our performance today. We have started well and I feel quite confident that we can have a good weekend. Of course there is some way to go to see how we will shape up with the competition around us. As far as the track is concerned, it is a lot of fun to drive but it is however incredibly bumpy, so much so you could even get a headache! But, importantly, the track is safe and the visibility under the lights is absolutely fine. The organisers have done an amazing job and I think everybody will have a great weekend.
Kazuki Nakajima: It's a very tough track, hot and bumpy, probably the bumpiest track surface we encounter all season. As a consequence, I think it will be a pretty demanding race. The grip level is not at all bad, maybe a little low at the moment, but by the time we get into qualifying and the race, the track will have rubbered in well. In the second session I had a bit of a moment as I made contact with the wall, but fortunately the damage was minor and I could complete the planned programme. Looking ahead, I know exactly the places on the track where I need to improve and I will have a good go at this tomorrow.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Today's two practice sessions were a good first chance to run in night time conditions. We worked through all of our planned programme. The only real issue we encountered was damage to the bargeboards on both cars due to the kerbs, but beyond that we had no issues with all of the aspects to a new track and running under artificial light. In conclusion, it looks like a great circuit and it will be a new and interesting challenge for the rest of the weekend.