03/10/2014
NEWS STORY
Marcus Ericsson: "I'm happy with today. This morning in FP1 we went through the programme as planned and we tried the new front wing during the last run on used tyres – it felt good and we will definitely get some useful information. We went back to the old front wing in FP2 and it was a decent session. We completed plenty of laps and the car feels nice to drive round here. We have something good to build on during the rest of the weekend. Also, if we look at the gap to the guys in front, I think we are better than we've been before, which is positive.
"I have a lot of good memories from this track: I've been on pole and won here in the rain and in the dry and always been quick here back in 2009, so it's great to be back – the track is great to drive in an F3 but amazing to drive in an F1!"
Kamui Kobayashi: "It hasn't been the best of ways to start my home Grand Prix: after sitting out in FP1, I suddenly lost the rear-left during my first run and that was the end of the day for me as I crashed into the barrier. It's a shame, but at least we have tomorrow – it's not much time but I will need to use FP3 to feel the car and luckily this is my home race and a track I know very well. Let's see what happens tomorrow, hopefully it will be better than today."
Roberto Merhi: "Our objective this morning was to do more kilometres and continue to get used to the car and it all went as planned. We didn't take any unnecessary risks and didn't push really hard as it was only a free practice. I'm pleased with my performance; I kept improving at the same time as I was learning the track. I have to say that Suzuka is an amazing circuit, I've really enjoyed it here and we were also able to end up with both cars in front of our main competitors so it was a good morning in the office."
Manfredi Ravetto, Team Principal: "We are happy to have introduced a new front wing, this shows commitment and effort from the team. We are sorry for Kamui's crash, which hugely damaged the car but, contrary to rumours concerning the shortage of parts here in Japan, we are perfectly able to repair the car and run it tomorrow."
Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: "Marcus used his circuit knowledge to the full today and we got lots of information to study overnight. Everything worked well on the engine side and we were able to complete the programme. Unfortunately Kamui's crash in FP2 meant we were not able to assess our usual checklist of fuel consumption and energy management so we will consolidate Marcus' data to try to keep ahead of the Marussias as we were today.
Check out our Friday gallery, here.