07/10/2016
NEWS STORY
Sahara Force India completed a trouble-free day of practice at the Suzuka Circuit in preparation for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
Nico Hulkenberg: "There's not a huge amount to say really because it was a routine, standard day of practice. We just worked through the run plan with no dramas and collected all the information on the different tyre compounds. We looked competitive, but it's only practice, so I would expect much tighter margins tomorrow when we get to qualifying. I'm feeling positive, though, because we've started well and I'm already pretty happy with the car balance."
Sergio Perez: "It's looking like a promising weekend based on our performance today. Of course, the track conditions were very good and you never know what the rest of the weekend will bring, but today everything was working well. We looked quite competitive in most conditions - on high and low fuel - and on all the tyre compounds. The set-up of the car was very good from the start of the day and we've not moved far away from this."
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "It's been a pretty straightforward and satisfying day of practice. The team achieved the objectives of the run plan, which included some test items split between the two cars. It was encouraging to see that our baseline set-up was not too far away from ideal and both drivers were pretty content with the feel of their cars by the end of the afternoon. Track conditions were very good today with relatively consistent track temperatures and very little wind to upset the cars. The programme included the usual combination of performance runs and long runs across the three tyre compounds, which means we have plenty of information to help our decisions overnight."
Check out our Friday gallery from Suzuka, here.