30/08/2024
NEWS STORY
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director: As expected, the track was quite dirty in the beginning of FP1 and the grip was low.
As all curbs are new as well, FP1 was all about learning and understanding how the tyres are behaving on this new surface. Both drivers felt comfortable with the car from the start. Alex's pace on the Medium tyre was encouraging and Franco used both sessions to build up his confidence and pace. We've seen that there is a lot of graining in the long runs across the field so it will be key to find a balance between Qualifying and race performance.
Alex Albon: Today felt mostly strong except for our Soft tyre run in FP2, but other than that, everything else was pretty good. We're in a decent place but it's close out there and we definitely have some work to do. I think tomorrow will be a trade between Qualifying and race pace; there's a lot of graining going on right now and it's hurting the tyres a lot. In terms of getting the one lap performance and also the long run performance is a bit of a challenge, so let's see what sweet spot we can find.
Franco Colapinto: I'm very proud to have completed my first Friday as a Formula 1 driver. There are things to work on with the team but overall, it was a good first day. Instead of going for lap times, I focused on myself by building up everything throughout the sessions. I was careful in FP1 as I wanted to put the laps in. On the long runs, I'm still trying to understand how to keep the tyre alive for longer and find that sweet spot. I felt a lot more comfortable in FP2 as I was trying to find the limit and was more consistent which was a good step for my confidence. I'm super grateful to everyone in the team for helping me get up to speed this weekend.