25/09/2020
NEWS STORY
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri both had busy days and completed plenty of running during Friday practice at the Russian Grand Prix.
Max, Daniil and Pierre all took a number of new power unit components in Sochi, with new internal combustion engines (ICE), turbochargers, MGU-H and MGU-K for all three drivers being part of their permitted allocations, as part of our PU management strategy for the season. The opening session was a productive one, even though it was interrupted by a red flag and a number of yellows. While other drivers were struggling with the low grip conditions, Max had a strong run to third place as all four Honda-powered cars finished in the top ten.
Daniil was seventh in FP1 at his home circuit despite a small spin in the final sector, with Alex just 0.024s behind him in eighth and Pierre rounding out the top ten as we started the weekend strongly. FP2 was a little more tricky, with Max also spinning in the final sector while on a soft-tyre run, finishing up seventh overall. Pierre was only a little over 0.1s off Max but that resulted in an 11th-place finish in the second session, with Alex 12th and Daniil 13th. The competitive nature was emphasised by the fact Pierre was less than half a second away from a place in the top four. Between them, all four drivers completed 133 laps on Friday afternoon, giving us plenty of data to work through ahead of the rest of the weekend.
Toyoharu Tanabe, Technical Director: "Friday at the first flyaway race of the season went smoothly for us. Our four cars across the two teams all managed to do plenty of laps. However, due to the slippery track conditions and other factors such as a red flag, a virtual safety car and traffic, car balance still needs some work, which explains why we are lower down the time sheet than usual. We have plenty of data which will we now analyse to be well prepared for qualifying."