02/09/2016
NEWS STORY
Bar an electrical problem which brought Esteban's progress to a halt, we had a good first day on track at Monza. Some work to do to squeeze a little more from the package, but we're feeling positive for this weekend.
Nice opening day for you Pascal. A typical Friday in terms of the programme?
Pascal Wehrlein: "Monza is a very different track to Spa, so we were testing different aero parts on the car this morning to find solutions. We did improve in this afternoon session, which I am happy about."
Good vibes for the rest of the weekend?
PW: "There is still a lot of work to do as we are not yet where we want to be, especially for Monza, but there is more potential in the car and we can work on that tomorrow."
Esteban, you were on a roll there. What happened?
Esteban Ocon: "Yes, overall it was a pretty good day, except at the end. Sometimes you get problems, but I'm pretty happy with the pace. We have to keep working that way, with one more practice tomorrow."
You didn't get all the Supersoft tyre work done that you were hoping for, but you seem happy with what you did achieve?
EO: "We couldn't do the long runs but we managed to do the short runs, which is good preparation to our qualifying. I'm feeling positive. I'd like to think we can be in a good position tomorrow."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "Not bad for a Friday, I guess, but I think it's fair to say we need to extract a bit more one-lap performance from the car for qualifying tomorrow if we are going to feature in Q2, which is certainly our goal for this event.
"Both Pascal and Esteban did a great job today, so no worries there whatsoever. It's just a case of getting a bit more out of the car, but after all the work the guys put in today we know where we have to be stronger. Let's see what the engineers come up with overnight and take it from there.
"Other than that, it's a fairly normal Friday evening for us. Both cars are having scheduled engine changes with the only thing out of the ordinary being the investigation work taking place on the electrical systems on Esteban's car as a result of him stopping out on the circuit early in FP2. I'm confident that will be resolved easily enough so, all in all, reasonably comfortable with today's effort."