02/09/2022
NEWS STORY
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: It has been a slightly challenging day in Zandvoort with both drivers struggling to find a comfortable balance.
The track grip was low today and didn't improve as quickly as we hoped. The tyres have also been tricky to manage as they get very little rest during a lap here, especially the front left.
We have got some useful low fuel data from today, but we are going to need to study this hard overnight to help guide the setup changes for tomorrow. We would've liked to have got some more high fuel running done but red flags prevented this, which makes the race strategy a little difficult to judge at this stage. We will need to be flexible and agile on Sunday, but we are confident that this style of racing suits us.
Alex Albon: Whilst it wasn't great today, it felt okay out there, despite being quite windy with a high downforce circuit. The cars that are quick is opposite to last weekend, so it's really different in terms of requirements for us. Ultimately, the track is just not suiting us today so it's not easy, however I think we know where we need to improve so it's all about trying to get it done for tomorrow, knowing how important qualifying is. Hopefully we can make some changes that will improve our overall pace across the weekend, so that's the goal.
Nicholas Latifi: Today was a really tough day for the team and especially for me. Obviously FP1 is difficult to judge as the track is completely different going into the weekend. It's very windy out there and some corners are more affected than others. All in all, I struggled with a lot of different things and need to work on finding the right rhythm with driving and balancing the car. This is a track that requires a lot of commitment and you need to feel everything so I have a lot of homework to do tonight so that I can push the car more confidently the rest of the weekend.
Check out our Friday gallery from Zandvoort here.