06/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez: "We knew it would be a difficult day because of the weather, so we chose to maximise the morning session to complete as much dry running as we could. We did some aero testing and we need to analyse the data to make sure we choose the right direction for tomorrow. The car was working well in the dry, but we need to make some changes tonight to make sure I am totally comfortable. When the rain arrived this afternoon, I went out to do a few laps just to get a feel for the balance in the wet conditions. There was a lot of standing water so we didn't do many laps, but at least we have run on the wet tyres in case it rains again tomorrow."
Esteban Ocon: "The morning session went well and we did a lot of work because we were expecting the rain later in the day. During FP2, we went out to experience the conditions and the car felt strong, so I'm not worried if the rain comes back tomorrow. If it's wet or dry, we have a well-balanced car and we can be competitive. In the dry the car was not far away from where I wanted it to be - similar to how the car felt in Malaysia, so that's a good sign. We didn't have much time to work on the set-up adjustments, but I have a good feeling and we know where we need to focus tonight."
Robert Fernley: "Another disrupted day with the heavy rain limiting our programme this afternoon and both cars completing just a handful of laps. Fortunately we had a dry morning session where we elected to bring forward some of the data gathering we would normally carry out during FP2. We combined this with some component testing of our new aero updates spread across both cars. The red flag and the light rain at the end of the morning compressed the session, but we are not in bad shape and have a reasonable amount of data to help us prepare for qualifying and the race. We went out in the wet conditions this afternoon just to get an idea of how the wet tyres are performing. Both drivers were happy in the wet and I think we are well prepared whatever the weather brings tomorrow."
Check out our Friday gallery from Suzuka, here.