FP1 & FP2 - 2017 Australian GP team quotes

Renault F1

Renault Sport Formula One Team completed the first official practice sessions of the 2017 season with Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer taking the R.S.17 out on the 16-turn, 5.3km Albert Park Circuit. Nico had a trouble-free day, setting the ninth fastest lap time, a 1min 25.478secs. In contrast, Jolyon was denied significant track time due to a CV boot replacement in FP1, then an accident in FP2.

Alan Permane, Sporting Director - Technical programme notes

Nico completed a full programme with a number of set-up changes and longer runs in FP2.

Jo’s running in FP1 was limited due to a split CV boot. His running in FP2 was limited due to an accident.

In FP1, Pirelli’s soft (yellow) tyres were used by Jo and super soft (red) tyres were used by Nico.

In FP2, Soft and ultrasoft tyres were used by Nico and the supersoft by Jo.

Nico Hülkenberg

“I would say it’s been a pretty reasonable first Friday of the season and we’ve got a decent base to work from. We made some solid progress on balance and set-up and got some understanding of the tyres too. The R.S.17 feels good around Albert Park and we know we can make some progress for tomorrow with everything we’ve learnt today.”

Jolyon Palmer

“Sadly it was a pretty short day for me in terms of time in the car. We had a minor technical issue in the first session then I had an off in FP2, which unlike FP1 required more than one part replacing. I’m not sure exactly what happened and we’ll be having a close look at the data. I feel for my crew as they have a decent amount of work to do. Albert Park is a pretty cool circuit and even more so in these latest cars. I’m hopeful of more track time tomorrow, but we’ll be on the back foot heading into qualifying after only ten laps today.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director

“It was great to see the R.S.17 on track for its first Grand Prix sessions and we’ve had a productive day. Over Nico’s side of the garage, pace was pretty much in line with expectations and we were able to get some decent understanding of where we need to go here in terms of set-up. Jo’s FP1 was shortened a little due to a split in a CV boot, and it’s unfortunate that he had a shunt in FP2. There’s a reasonable amount of work to do to his car but nothing too drastic so we’re looking forward to seeing what’s possible in our first qualifying session of the season tomorrow.”

Mercedes

Back to business in Melbourne, with Lewis and Valtteri showing strong early form

— Lewis topped the morning session with Valtteri P2
— Lewis continued to set the pace in the afternoon session with the fastest time of the day, as Valtteri rounded off his first Grand Prix Friday with the Silver Arrows third fastest
— Both drivers ran all three compounds in the morning session. Lewis used the Soft and UltraSoft in the afternoon, Valtteri the SuperSoft and UltraSoft

Lewis Hamilton

It’s great to be back in Australia and I’m super happy to be back in the car – particularly after a first day like that. It was 99 per cent perfect. After struggling with some issues in Barcelona, we didn’t know if we’d have the same thing here. What’s really encouraging is that we’ve arrived at the track just a week later and the car is exactly where it should be. It’s feeling great out there and the guys have done a fantastic job. We’ve shown good form so far on both the long and short runs and we got every lap done that we wanted to. The tyres performed really well today too. Coming into today, we really didn’t know where we’d be. We knew from FP1 that the Ferrari’s weren’t at their maximum. Of course, in FP2 all of a sudden they were quick. We’ll see tomorrow how it really stands. I feel very much at home in Melbourne. There’s always a great buzz here and a lot of support. I’m just really happy to see everyone and receive their positive energy. I’ll be pushing as hard as I can to win this race.

Valtteri Bottas

It was great to be back on track after Barcelona and overall it was a good day today. We still have work to do with the car balance but we got all of our running completed without any issues. From my side I definitely feel like I can make a step forward tomorrow. It’l l be a busy evening for us tonight looking through all the data to see where we can improve but it’s a reasonable start. In terms of our pace, it is only practice, so tomorrow we’ll find out exactly where we are. These tyre compounds are the right choice for this race. The softer compounds all felt good. Everyone is pushing to the limit, as we saw a few times out there today. This track is always quite dirty at the start of the weekend, but we’ll get used to it.

James Allison, Technical Director

It always seems like a bit of a cliché to say that we were pleased to get through our programme smoothly. But in the first practice sessions of a new season – particularly under new regulations like these – it’s especially important to achieve that and also to leave the car intact for Saturday. On both counts, I think we can say that today was a smooth day. Our programme focused on trying out the various tyre compounds that we have available this weekend to see what kind of pace and degradation we can expect from them. We also worked to ensure the car has a reasonable balance with race fuel and lower fuel. Our long run pace looked decent but it’s harder to tell where we stand at this stage in terms of single lap pace. We’ll find out tomorrow. Overall the car seems strong, so we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do with it.

Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz

“A positive way to start the first race weekend of the season here in Australia. We were able to follow our programme, without suffering any issues, which was the main target for today. We were able to keep learning and pick up from where we left in testing, so it was definitely a positive Friday. This doesn’t mean that we can now relax, as things usually get a bit more complicated on Saturdays, but it’s a good start. We now need to keep focused and finding lap time in the car. You can really feel that this new generation of car is much faster than last year. I’ve done the fastest lap of my life around Melbourne this afternoon, and it’s only the second practice session! We still have more margin for improvement, but it’s already been very exciting to drive our new STR12.”

Daniil Kvyat

“It’s been a productive Friday. We were able to complete many laps and we easily got through our programme. It’s all still very new, as it’s the first time for us here with these cars, so everyone will be looking to progress overnight and we will do the same. There is always room for improvement and I’m confident we will make a step forward for tomorrow. It’s great to finally be back on track and get the first race weekend of the year underway – it feels like we’ve finally gone back to school!”

Jody Egginton (Head of Vehicle Performance)

“It was good to be back to the routine of a Friday at a GP and it has given the car crews the opportunity to get back into the groove. As is the case every year, the circuit has shown its normal level of evolution through the sessions today. It has been a productive day and we have gathered good data on all three compounds which, given the level of safety car risk here, will allow us to make informed decisions regarding risk versus reward if the opportunity arises during the race. As normal, we will work through the data from today during tonight and make the required changes in order to meet tomorrow’s objective of getting more short-run performance from the STR12. Overall, a satisfying start to the first race weekend of 2017.”

Sauber

With the first and second practice session ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Formula 1 has officially started its 2017 season. For the Sauber F1 Team it was a productive day with lots of data gathering on both Sauber C36-Ferrari. In FP1 the focus was on aero testing, while short and long runs were on the programme for FP2 in the afternoon. Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein completed 59 and 52 laps overall.

Marcus Ericsson

“Overall it’s been a positive day for us. During testing in Barcelona we were not completely happy with the balance of the car. After analysing all the data, we have made a step forward as I feel more comfortable in the car here in Melbourne. Today we managed to run a good number of laps on different tyre compounds, so overall it’s been a nice start into the weekend.”

Pascal Wehrlein

“I am not fully satisfied with my first practice sessions today. We are still working on finding a suitable set-up for the car, but it was positive that we have gathered some good data in both practice sessions. Now we need to focus on tomorrow in order to reach further improvements.”

Force India

The first day of the season saw the VJM10 emerge in its new pink livery at Albert Park as Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon clocked up a total of 124 laps between them.

SERGIO PEREZ

“It’s always important to start the year with a trouble-free day and cover lots of miles. As usual in Melbourne, the track was very green during the first session and evolved quite a lot for the second session. We tried pretty much all the tyre compounds and we have the data we need to make improvements tonight. I think there are a few areas where we can find performance and we know where we need to focus our energy.”

ESTEBAN OCON

“I didn’t have the best start to the day with a brake issue causing a delayed start to my running, but the afternoon was easier and I managed to find a better rhythm. The priority tonight is the usual job of exploring where we need to make changes; where we can find some gains, and where I can improve too. Hopefully we can make a step forward during final practice to be ready for qualifying.”

ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL

“As Fridays go, it was a fairly routine start to the 2017 season with a brake system problem on Esteban’s car the only significant issue at the start of FP1. Fortunately we resolved that quite quickly allowing Esteban to get on with learning the track.

“The VJM10 has been behaving as we expected from a set-up perspective, which allowed us to push on with understanding the various tyre compounds and seeing how they perform in these conditions compared to what we saw during pre-season testing. All the information we collected today will determine our approach for the rest of the weekend.

“Sergio’s programme was straightforward and Esteban took a mature approach to learning quite a difficult track. We split some test items – areo and mechanical - between the two cars to make comparisons and that will help our decision-making tonight.”

Red Bull

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“We looked pretty strong this morning and then we tried a few things this afternoon but I don’t think they worked in our favour. I’d like to learn a bit more from this afternoon’s session and then if we could pull all of that together with the strength of this morning I’ll be happy. Mercedes sure is quick but it’s more Lewis at the moment than Valtteri, who looks like he’s more in the group of Ferrari. I think we can be there as well. Pole might be a stretch but I think we can be in that next little group with the right set-up and the right lap in quali. If Lewis does the perfect lap then that’ll be a challenge to take the pole away from him but we’re not too far off. You certainly feel more traction with the new tyres. I thought the times would have been quicker though; this morning I felt a big chunk of grip but I was expecting low twenties. There is still time to improve tomorrow. I think the wind changes so that’ll make a quicker lap time but the traction is nice. It felt awesome to be out on the track this morning, I just felt I was back in my happy place and it was cool to already see so many fans on a Friday. It’s also a circuit I enjoy because it’s a fun layout. I think we can have a very good weekend from here.”

MAX VERSTAPPEN

“Today was about trying to find and improve the balance of the car after getting out on track for the first Friday practice of the year. We are about where I expected us to be, we have some work to do overnight to make sure we are in a good position for tomorrow and can get the best out of the car. It was nice to try the RB13 for the first time here at Albert Park, it definitely felt faster and a bit more enjoyable through the corners, being a street circuit it will improve by qualifying quite a lot which means more fun for us. I ran wide and ended up on the grass which unfortunately damaged the floor and cut short the second session for me. Mercedes seem quick once again so they are the target to beat but we must also do some work overnight to be ahead of Ferrari who also look strong. Hopefully we will have a good start on Sunday, then we are at the front and can make it hard to overtake.”

Williams

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer

It was a day of two halves! We had a great session this morning, the first practice session of Lance’s Formula One career. He did a great job of taking it step-by-step, doing some good laps whilst getting familiar with a circuit he has never driven on before. He made steady progress throughout the session. On Felipe’s side of the garage, there was also some good running on both high and low fuel, and different tyres with encouraging pace. In FP2, unfortunately it wasn’t so good on Felipe’s side. We had an electrical problem which stopped the car on the circuit and brought his session to an end very early. We know the issue so it will be resolved easily overnight. He did get one run on the supersoft tyres before stopping, but unfortunately we missed out on the long runs. Meanwhile, Lance had another good session and we got good data from him on high fuel and we’ll be working with all of that information overnight.

Felipe Massa

It’s not really the great day we were expecting and unfortunately I couldn’t finish the second session; I only did six laps. The track was still a little bit dirty and then suddenly we had this issue in the car. I went into neutral and couldn’t select any gears, which meant that I lost the opportunity to try the ultrasoft tyres and do any long runs. It’s a shame that we did thousands of kilometres in Barcelona and then had this issue here, but I don’t think it’s a serious thing, which is positive. We need to concentrate 100% tomorrow and I really hope things can go the right way.

Lance Stroll

For me it was a good day. I did some laps and was just learning the track. It feels good to just finally break the ice and do some driving, especially as it has been quite a long build-up as I got here early to acclimatise. It is not a track I have been to before, so I can’t just go out and push to the limit. I have to build up to it, which is what I was doing today, and still leaving a bit of a margin. There is not a lot of room for error on this track, but it is fun and so far I have really enjoyed driving it. FP2 was quite a scruffy session for me. The first run was alright, but then on the second one it was a shame as there was a yellow flag so I had to abort the lap, which meant we missed out on that one lap on the ultrasofts we wanted. However, today were just the first practice sessions. I think I can still improve as I am learning a lot, and there is still a lot to understand.

Haas F1

After two weeks of testing Feb. 27-March 10 at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, it was finally go time Friday at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne as teams prepared for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The start of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with two, 90-minute practice sessions – FP1 and FP2 – which saw the new-for-2017 technical regulations in real-time action on the 5.303-kilometer (3.295-mile), 16-turn track.

The advanced aerodynamic package for this year’s car was put in place to create a higher level of downforce and it was achieved with a wider front wing, larger barge boards, a lower and wider rear wing and a diffuser that expands 50 millimeters (two inches) in height and width. Augmenting the aerodynamic advances are wider tires from Pirelli, by 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) in the front and 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) in the rear. It’s a 25-percent increase that brings the front tires to 305 millimeters (12 inches) and the rear tires to 405 millimeters (15.9 inches).

The net effect was immediate, with lap times more than two seconds faster than those achieved in final practice for last year’s Australian Grand Prix.

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean was the very first driver to venture onto the Albert Park Circuit, with teammate Kevin Magnussen the third driver to hit the track.

Both drivers logged 20 laps in FP1 with each following the same program – installation lap on Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires, eight consecutive laps on the same set of Yellow softs and then a switch to Red supersoft tires for stints of five and six laps, respectively.

Grosjean was eighth quickest in FP1 with his best time being a 1:26.168, secured on his 14th lap. Magnussen was 17th fastest with a time of 1:27.667 on his 12th tour. Each driver earned their best time on Red supersofts.

Leading the way in FP1 was the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton’s quick time of 1:24.220 was .583 of a second better than Bottas. More pointedly, Hamilton’s fast lap in FP1 was only .691 of a second off the all-time lap record at Albert Park Circuit – a 1:23.529 set by Sebastian Vettel in qualifying in 2011.

Adversity found Haas F1 Team in FP2. The crew chased a water leak on Magnussen’s car, limiting him to just eight laps, with his best being a 1:27.279 secured on his fifth lap while riding on Red supersofts. Grosjean overcame two separate lock-ups – one which put him onto the grass in turn one and another that sent him on a brief drive through the gravel in turn three. Nonetheless, Grosjean was able to tally 29 laps, with his best being a 1:25.436 on his ninth lap while shod on a set of Purple ultrasoft tires.

Hamilton continued his quick pace by finishing atop FP2. He was the only driver to lap the track in under a minute and 24 seconds. His quick time of 1:23.620 was .547 of a second better than his nearest pursuer, Scuderia Ferrari’s Vettel, and only .091 of a second off Vettel’s 2011 lap record.

Between the two sessions, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 77 laps – 49 by Grosjean and 28 by Magnussen.

Romain Grosjean

“It was a pretty good day on my side of the garage. The car felt much nicer than in winter testing, which is great. It’s good to be here and put the right setup on the car and go out there and have some fun. We more or less did the program we expected to do today, which is surprising for a first day in Australia, though there was a bit of trouble on the other side of the garage. Hopefully we can share our data and get even faster for tomorrow. I’m sure there are plenty of areas where we can improve. Hopefully, tomorrow’s going to be a good day.”

Kevin Magnussen

“It was a frustrating day. I didn’t really get much out of it. We’ll investigate and, hopefully, find the issue. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. We don’t know what the weather’s going to do. It might rain and everything will change anyway. Let’s see what happens. It’s good to see, though, that the car is competitive. That’s very exciting for the season. That’s the positive to take from today.”

Gunther Steiner

“I think we had two scenarios. One driver, Romain, had a good session. He learned a lot, did a lot of running and seemed to be competitive. With Kevin, we had a few issues. In the morning we couldn’t find the balance on the car, and in the afternoon we were working on it. It seemed to go in the right direction until a water leak. We didn’t do very much running. All in all, I think for the first day out in the new season it’s not too bad. As we expected, there’ll be a very tight battle in the midfield. We still don’t know where we’re at really until tomorrow’s qualifying. We’ll work hard to sort out Kevin’s car for tomorrow’s FP3 session and try to do our best.”

Drivers have one more practice session on Saturday (14:00-15:00) before qualifying starts at 17:00. Qualifying consists of three rounds, with the 16 fastest drivers from Q1 moving on to Q2. Then, the 10 fastest drivers from Q2 advance to Q3 where they’ll battle for the pole.

Ferrari

The first day of a new world championship is always a special event, but for Scuderia Ferrari, practice in Albert Park was simply an opportunity to work through a planned programme. For the SF70H that meant mainly working on set-up and balance. Sebastian and Kimi tried all the specifications of tyre that Pirelli has supplied here, starting on the Soft before then using the Super and Ultrasoft in the second session.

The dirty track conditions and the different fuel loads used make it impossible to give an accurate assessment of the relative performance levels. As Vettel explained at the end of practice, “on Friday, it is always difficult to say much. Anyway, it was nice to be back in the cockpit again. In the first session, we had a few small problems which slowed us down a bit, but things went better in the second one. As for the balance, today wasn’t bad, but there is still room for improvement. The lap times don’t mean anything. Only tomorrow will we find out what the score is.”

Raikkonen expressed pretty much the same sentiments. “We can be pleased, because overall the day didn’t go badly. We learned a lot of things and now we know in which areas we have to improve. As for performance, you cannot compare it to winter testing, partly because this is a bit of an unusual track and doesn’t produce a clear picture of the situation.”

Seb completed 45 laps over the two sessions (10+35,) while Kimi racked up 16 in the first part and 30 in the second.