01/09/2023
NEWS STORY
Yuki Tsunoda: "It was a normal day today. We completed some test items in FP1, and normal running in FP2, and there's still more car performance to come. We know our limitations and need to find a couple of tenths, to be able to be in the top 10.
"We have made a big step in straight-line speed, which we usually suffer with, and now we're probably in the top part of the field. Because of the red flag, we only managed to do a couple of long-run laps, so we need to see how we go with them tomorrow. I definitely want to make it to Q2, possibly even Q3, so we'll look deeper into the data tonight and be ready for qualifying."
Liam Lawson: "We completed everything we wanted today, which is important, and we still have some more time tomorrow during FP3, to prepare for qualifying. The change of tyre compounds for qualifying is something I haven't experienced in Formula 1, but I'll just focus on tyre warm-up to extract the maximum out of them, especially from the hard compound tyre in Q1. Yuki's been great as a teammate, and Daniel offered all the advice he could before the race last week, so they've been super supportive, and so has the entire team, trying to get me up to speed as quickly as possible. It's just about improving and focusing on feeling comfortable with everything behind the wheel and operating the car."
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "It's been a busy few days for the team, preparing for this Grand Prix, but at least it has given Liam a chance to reflect on the last event and come here fully prepared for this weekend. The weather has been good, so it's been a fairly standard Friday. FP1 focused on a series of mechanical and aerodynamic test items for Yuki, while we prioritised the number of laps with a consistent car for Liam. As is usually the case coming here with the low downforce setup on the car, you see more sliding, and the balance is not as together as when you run high downforce. In FP2, we ran on medium and soft tyre compounds. Liam struggled to find the extra grip on the soft tyres and had a bit of traffic, but tomorrow we'll only use the soft compound if we make it to Q3 with the ATA format. The long runs were cut short with the red flag for Perez, so we didn't get a great read on the tyres, but it was the same for everyone. With the ATA format, everyone has different run profiles and tyre usage, and it's more difficult to know where you are competitiveness-wise than simply looking at the classification. It seems like we have a bit of work to do overnight to find some pace, especially in Sectors 2 and 3."