22/10/2022
NEWS STORY
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: It has been a busy day with Logan making his FP1 debut this afternoon and the race drivers completing a tyre test programme for Pirelli during the extended the FP2 session this evening. Logan did a good job today and was able to build on the running he did in Abu Dhabi last year and on the simulator sessions that he has done since. He didn't make any mistakes today, drove well and had some good feedback for the engineers.
We completed the tyre testing without any issues but as we were doing the testing blind and as we weren't permitted to change the setup during the session, there was little relevance to the rest of this weekend. However, it allowed Nicholas to get some laps done having missed FP1.
We have a lot of work to do tomorrow to get the cars ready for qualifying and to some extent tomorrow will be a bit like a Friday of a sprint event. The weather looks like it will stay hot and windy for the rest of the weekend so part of our task tomorrow will be to understand how best to manage the tyres in these tricky conditions.
Alex Albon: The one representative session we had today went surprisingly okay being 13th on the time sheet. There's definitely some more time to be found. It's tricky with it being windy up here and the winds only going to get worse during the weekend which doesn't tend to suit our car. We'll do our homework tonight to see what we can change from today into tomorrow to be more productive.
Nicholas Latifi: Probably the strangest Friday I've had as a Formula 1 driver. It was my first time missing FP1 and then the Pirelli tyre test in FP2. I took today as a chance to get into the rhythm of the track. It's going to feel very different tomorrow when I'm back on this year's tyres. We'll be looking to start off strong in FP3 and maximise every lap.
Logan Sargeant: The main goal coming into today was to learn as much as possible and I feel like I did pick up on a lot. It was very different to what I honestly expected but in a good way. The way that the car reacts compared to what I'm used to in Formula 2 is massively different. Super reactive in the high-speed and so good on the brakes. A lot of potential to still pick up on and improve on, but I think it was a good start and happy with how it went. A massive thank you to Williams and Dorilton Motor Sports for their support and the opportunity today.