06/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Daniel Ricciardo: "This morning in the dry we went out early because we thought the rain was going to come at the end of the session and we did quite a lot of running. Ferrari were quite strong and Mercedes always turn it up on a Saturday so we still have some pace to find, but the balance was pretty good and overall it was a good morning. We were losing a bit on the straight which I don't think was all engine today, it looked like we had more downforce so we need to see if this is the best set-up for us or if we can find a better compromise for the corners and the straights. I do think next year they should change things a bit, we get an extra set of intermediate tyres on a Friday but not extremes which is why we didn't run in FP2. There is a high chance of rain again tomorrow so we may need to save them for when it counts in Qualifying. It's good that some cars ran but I think for everyone to go out in sessions like this we need an extra set of extremes. Any kind of uncertainty or changing conditions gives us options to take a bit more of a gamble, so let's see what we can do tomorrow."
Max Verstappen: "We didn't do that many laps this morning but I was happy with the set-up straight away and I think we looked competitive. The red flag interfered with the programme a bit but we still managed to get some good data and I feel happy at the end of the day. We adapted plans this morning as we knew the rain was coming this afternoon and this means the washed out second session hasn't impacted on our plans. Mercedes look strong as usual, Ferrari I'm not sure about but I think we are close and that is the positive thing. The track certainly feels faster this year with the updated cars, perhaps a second or so which is expected at a circuit like this. The warmer conditions on Sunday should help us and for now Qualifying looks dry so we can get on with some improvements tomorrow. There looked to be a lot of rivers on the track when it was raining so we just thought it wasn't worth the risk of going out in those conditions. Last year was a very good race, I enjoyed it a lot and finished up on the podium so I hope for more of that this Sunday."
Check out our Friday gallery from Suzuka, here.