FP1 & FP2 - 2017 Singapore GP team quotes

Haas F1

The 14th round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at Marina Bay Street Circuit as teams prepared for the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday night.

Two 90-minute, nighttime sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 5.065-kilometer (3.147-mile), 23-turn track were run under hot and humid conditions, with Antonio Giovinazzi joining Haas F1 Team’s regular drivers, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

Giovinazzi, the third driver for Scuderia Ferrari, took the wheel of the Haas VF-17 in FP1 as Magnussen graciously relinquished his seat for Giovinazzi to gain some additional Formula One experience. The 23-year-old from Martina Franca, Italy, drove a Formula One car earlier this year when he subbed for the injured Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber during the first week of winter testing at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya and again during the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. This was the third of seven FP1 sessions where Giovinazzi will drive for Haas F1 Team.

Giovinazzi ran a total of 27 laps, the best being a 1:46.782 on his 15th lap that put him 16th overall. Grosjean ran 20 laps in FP1 with a quick time of 1:46.456 on his 17th lap to place him 15th among the 20 drivers. Both pilots ran exclusively on the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tire and were the only ones to do so as everyone else sampled the Purple ultrasoft tires.

Leading the way in FP1 was Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, whose fast lap of 1:42.489 was .109 of a second better than the next quickest driver, Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, and broke the previous track record held by Nico Rosberg – a 1:42.584 set last year with Mercedes in Q3.

Speeds picked up and lap times continued to drop in FP2. Magnussen returned to his Haas VF-17 and wrapped FP2 as the 17th-quickest driver with a time of 1:44.417, the best mark recorded by Haas F1 Team Friday at Marina Bay. Magnussen’s quick time came on the 11th of his 32 laps shod on a set of Purple ultrasoft tires. Grosjean knocked 1.528 seconds off his FP1 time with a 1:44.928 earned on his 13th lap, also while utilizing the ultrasoft tire. He ended the session 18th overall with 29 laps completed.

Ricciardo remained the fastest driver, topping FP2 with a lap of 1:40.852, which was 1.637 seconds better than his FP1 time to set a new benchmark going into Saturday’s FP3 and qualifying sessions. Just behind Ricciardo was his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, who was .556 of a second off Ricciardo’s quick time.

Between the two practices, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 108 laps – 49 by Grosjean, 32 by Magnussen and 27 by Giovinazzi.

Romain Grosjean

“It was a tough day. Singapore is a challenge on its own – for the mechanics, the drivers and the cars – with all the heat and humidity. We’ve been struggling all day to get the best out of it. I think we’ve made some progress on the rear end of the car, but we still need to get the front end to work. That’s something we’ve been struggling with at street circuits like Monaco, but we eventually found it in qualifying there. Not much feeling with the front end – I’m struggling to get the best out of it. I think tonight we’re going to try a few things for tomorrow and hopefully get the right answer.”

Kevin Magnussen

“Obviously, the pace wasn’t great. We need to work on that and see if we can find some more pace. Otherwise, it’s going to be difficult for us this weekend. I think we have some stuff to work with, it’s just whether it will be enough, but we’ll see. It was good fun to drive here, but our main priority is to be competitive.”

Antonio Giovinazzi

“First of all, thanks to Haas and Ferrari for this opportunity. It was an important session for me. The last time I drove the car was the beginning of August, so to come back in the car and at a difficult track like Singapore – it was a difficult experience but I really enjoyed the track. It was amazing. I’m really happy. I did the best job for the team. We did all the laps we could do, so I’m really happy with the session. Of course, missing Monza was disappointing because it was in front of my fans, but in the end, I’m really happy to swap Monza with this track as I got to learn a new track and gain a new experience.”

Gunther Steiner

“Not an easy day today. We’re still trying to find a setup that the drivers like while getting the tires into the window where they work here. We’ll keep on working at that and try to find something for tomorrow. Other than a bit of damage where Kevin hit a wheel in FP2, we got through the sessions with both cars intact. Antonio did a good job this morning. I think we’ve got enough data to look at. Hopefully, we can find something for tomorrow.”

Force India

Force India completed a busy practice programme in Singapore with 119 laps covered between the two cars during the day.

SERGIO PEREZ

“I feel very happy with how things have gone today. We had some new parts on the car and everything appears to be working well. It was probably our best Friday of the year in terms of what we learned and the improvement we made with the car. Qualifying is very important here so we need to make the most of tomorrow. There is still room to improve and I think we can be strong in qualifying. I’m enjoying things so far and it’s great fun driving these cars around this circuit.”

ESTEBAN OCON

“It was a busy day on my side of the garage with lots of different parts to test. The first session was not so easy, but we found a good direction in the evening session so I’m feeling positive overall. The car has improved a lot during the day and we have done lots of homework in preparation for tomorrow.”

ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL

“It was a very hot and humid day, but one in which we managed to achieve all our objectives. We had quite a comprehensive test programme which we split between the two cars. The aim was understanding the new aerodynamic updates and the mechanical test items on the car: from this perspective, both cars ran reliably and we got all the data we needed. Sergio was happy with the car throughout the day, while Esteban was much happier with the changes we made in FP2. There’s a lot of track evolution and that is something we will need to keep in mind when looking at the data tonight. There is still a lot of work to do, but we’re confident we can find some more performance ahead of qualifying tomorrow.”

Red Bull

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“It was a good day out there today, but I expected this, to be honest, and am not really surprised with our performance. I knew we would come here with a good car. We made some progress from the morning and even though we were the quickest in FP1, I still wanted to get more out of the car and the set up in the afternoon. We took another step forward throughout the day, which was good and we now hope there is still more room to improve for tomorrow. I’m after a dominant weekend and so far this has been a good start. It’s important that we obviously keep that for tomorrow but I have faith that we can perform on this level all weekend. I know the challenge in Qualifying will be a potentially stronger Ferrari and Mercedes but I’m confident we can stay up there and fight with them at the top.”

MAX VERSTAPPEN

“Finishing first and second in the last session means it has been a positive Friday. The car in general performed well so we are happy with that side, the balance can always be improved and we are a bit down on top speed but nothing major to work on. After such a good day we have to believe that a very good result in Qualifying is possible, so we will go for it. Compared to our competitors we look very strong, we didn’t expect to be this competitive so of course this is very pleasing for us. We still have to be cautious and work on all aspects because we know that in Q3 tomorrow they will have improved and be closer; for now we look in a good position. Qualifying will be tight but I’m confident that our race pace offers us the chance of a good result. We know this should be one of our best tracks so we will do our best to capitalise on that.”

McLaren

Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne enjoyed a pair of trouble-free and consistent practice sessions around the streets of Marina Bay this evening.

On his very first visit to the track, Stoffel immediately got down to business, running a handful of reconnaissance laps using a prototype halo before properly kicking off his FP1 programme.
He was quickly up to speed, running without problem throughout both sessions, and ended the day sixth fastest after setting a best time of 1m42.788s during this evening’s nighttime FP2 session.

Fernando also enjoyed two smooth sessions, he led the way in first practice, before ending up immediately behind Stoffel in seventh at the end of FP2.

FERNANDO ALONSO

“Our performance today was good; basically in line with what we were expecting around here. We knew that, at this track, we were going to be more competitive than we were at Spa and Monza.

“We got both cars into the top 10 today, and I hope we can achieve that tomorrow in qualifying and then again in Sunday’s race.

“We need those points: we’re ninth in the constructors’ championship, so every opportunity we get to score points, we need to grab with both hands.”

STOFFEL VANDOORNE

“For me, it’s been a very positive Friday, finishing sixth in FP2 despite having never driven around here before.

“I was discovering this track for the first time during FP1, and I got to grips with it quite quickly today.

“On paper, it looks like it’s been a particularly good day, but the two Ferraris didn’t appear to have an ideal session and ended FP2 behind us. They probably have something more in hand for tomorrow., but hopefully, we can still translate today’s pace into qualifying tomorrow.”

ERIC BOULLIER

“Watching Formula 1 cars around the darkened streets of Singapore is always spectacular, and it was especially pleasing to finish this evening’s FP2 session with both cars comfortably inside the top 10.

“Both drivers were relatively satisfied with the balance of their cars, and we have a solid basis for making progress overnight ahead of tomorrow’s critical qualifying session. A good grid position will be essential ahead of this long and difficult race on Sunday.

“Of particular note is Stoffel’s performance: he drove exceptionally well today. He’s never driven at this track before, was immediately on the pace, didn’t make any mistakes, and ended the day an impressive sixth fastest today. That’s extremely impressive.”

YUSUKE HASEGAWA

“The Singapore Grand Prix weekend started under a typical tropical climate. Despite the hot and humid conditions, all the members of the team did a good job, completing the practice programme as scheduled.

“It is still Friday, so I know it is too early to talk about our position. However, we were satisfied with good laps which both of our drivers showed today. We also think we have some more room to improve the set-up of the car for tomorrow’s FP3.

“This is a circuit where our car can show its strengths. And also considering we have two talented drivers with us, we are hoping to have a positive result in tomorrow’s qualifying.”

Sauber

The Sauber F1 Team used the free practices day at the Singapore GP to conduct mechanical tests (Ericsson) and take aerodynamic measurements (Wehrlein). Both drivers completed the planned programme, testing all three tyre compounds (ultrasoft, supersoft, and soft) on the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The team is now analysing the collected data to prepare for the rest of the weekend.

Marcus Ericsson

“It was a trouble-free day for us today. We were able to go through our planned programme, and run a good amount of laps. However, there is a clear gap to our direct competition, and we have to keep doing our best to maximize the performance of the car. In terms of the atmosphere around the track here in Singapore, it is as great as always, and I am really enjoying driving here under the flood lights.”

Pascal Wehrlein

“The weekend has been quite alright so far. The car felt better in the second free practice session than it did in the first. We were also able to run through the planned programme swiftly, which is positive. I tested all three tyre compounds, which was a good comparison. The data that was collected today will help us prepare for tomorrow’s qualifying session and the race on Sunday.“

Renault

Renault Sport Formula One Team ended the first day of the 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix with driver Nico Hülkenberg ranking fifth-fastest, his best position in FP2 this season, at 1min 42.448secs. Jolyon posted the twelfth-fastest time on a damp track during the day session. He gently hit the wall in FP2 which affected his time but could continue his session, finishing fourteenth-fastest.

Nico Hülkenberg

“We had a standard yet positive Friday here in Singapore, the performance in FP2 was quite good. I was feeling happy with the car all day and that’s what is most important to me right now. I definitely had some good balance and harmony, there is always room for improvement but definitely a good start to the weekend.”

Jolyon Palmer

“Overall it was a good session, I’m quite happy and the car is in a good place. I touched the wall in the evening session so we have a bit of minor fine tuning to do overnight. We are in a good place for tomorrow.”

Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer

“We had a reasonably good day, we were able to go through the programme as planned, particularly the tyre information to prepare our race strategy. Overall a very straightforward Friday and we are confident for tomorrow. After a disappointing weekend in Monza, we are back in a good place and our goal in Singapore is to continue to build on our momentum.”

Mercedes

Silver Arrows prepare for challenging battle in the Singapore heat

— Lewis finished the morning session in P4 with Valtteri in P6 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit
— Lewis ended the day in P3 in the afternoon session, with Daniel Ricciardo quickest
— Both drivers ran the SuperSoft and UltraSoft compound tyres in FP1
— In FP2, Lewis then used the Soft and UltraSoft compound tyres on short and long runs, Valtteri the SuperSoft and Ultrasoft

Lewis Hamilton

We had a clean day and got through our sessions without problems. It was pretty hot out there, the conditions are pretty awesome to cope with, but the grip on the track is fairly good. We were obviously close with the field today and we have still got some improvements to make with the car. Red Bull seem like they’re very strong and they’re thereabouts with Ferrari, so we’ve got some work to do. But nothing is out of reach.

Valtteri Bottas

This was a difficult day for us, I think we are missing some pace. We were making big setup changes between the first and the second session, but still didn’t quite find the right setting. There is plenty of work to do from what we learned today. I was struggling with the overall grip and the balance of the car. The car felt quite nervous, so it’s not so easy to trust the car when you push. That’s the main thing we need to work on so that I can build up my level of confidence.

James Allison

In terms of the programme, it was a clean and straightforward day, but performance-wise a bit more of a mixed bag. Lewis is showing some encouraging pace on the Soft tyre, but we’ve got a bit more to do on the Qualifying tyre. Valtteri on the other hand had a tough day and we’ve got some work to do with him to get him up to Lewis’ pace. The whole team needs to raise its game a bit overnight to be able to compete on even terms with the Red Bulls.

Williams

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer

Generally, we had a good day. We did most of the running we wanted to do apart from that Lance had a gearbox failure in FP1 which meant he only got running in the first forty minutes. It was a failure of a development part so no effect for the race, but unfortunately it lost him the track time which was a double blow because the focus for him today was to learn the circuit. It’s a track he’s not raced at and one that takes a lot of experience to understand how to optimise, simply from a driving point-of-view. On both sides of the garage we conducted some aerodynamic and systems tests, as well as our basic homework on tyres and different fuel levels. Our pace still needs some work, but we will do a lot of analysis overnight. I think we can extract more from the car. It’s going to be very tight in the midfield as usual, but I think if we can find two or three tenths, we can make a big difference.

Felipe Massa

Today was very difficult. We know that this isn’t really the best track for our car, so it was a very difficult Friday. Balance is not a big problem, the problem is just laptime. We’re a little bit too slow compared to the others. For sure, this is a problem I expected. To be honest, I’m sure qualifying is the main issue because we don’t have the right laptime to fight, but I hope that maybe in the race many things can happen to help us here, so we will try everything we can. If we can get points on Sunday, it will be a very good job.

Lance Stroll

It wasn’t the best day for the team. It was a tough Friday, especially for me with the gearbox problem in FP1 at a track I have never been to before, so that was not ideal. Then, in FP2 I had a virtual safety car on my best run, so that didn’t help either. Not the luckiest day and for sure we need to improve the car and try to make it better for tomorrow. However, I really enjoyed the track here. It is a lot of fun to drive, a bit bumpy but also very challenging. I knew the track was going to be tight and twisty so I was prepared for that, but it is one of the toughest tracks mentally and physically, and also because of the heat.

Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz

“After sitting out in this afternoon’s FP1, I obviously had to take my time to get used to driving here in FP2 – I had to do some extra laps at the beginning to make sure I recovered the lost time. I think we still haven’t recovered it fully but we have until tomorrow before qualifying to be ready and I’m confident we will get there. For the rest, I’m happy with my performance in today’s session. We still need to understand a few things we’ve introduced on the car for this race a bit better because at the moment we’re not 100% sure, but we will work hard overnight to solve this. Bring on tomorrow!”

Daniil Kvyat

“A decent Friday, we did a good job today. Of course, we still have some work to do regarding the car balance and hopefully we will fix this for tomorrow in order to improve our pace a little bit more. A part from that, we can be happy with our start to the weekend, we managed to complete plenty of laps and we now have enough information to make a step forward tomorrow.”

Sean Gelael

“What a great experience to drive in an FP1 session and be so close to home! It’s an amazing feeling. Singapore is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar and at the start it was still a bit damp as well, so it wasn’t the most ideal to my F1 career, but in the end we managed well. I enjoyed it a lot out there and we were able to complete the programme, which is positive. Obviously, I’d like to be closer to Daniil, but that will be more of a target further on in the season. I’m happy with my performance today and I’d like to thank the team and everyone supporting me for this opportunity. I now look forward to my next FP1 outing in Malaysia in two weeks’ time!”

Jody Egginton (Head of Vehicle Performance)

“In today’s FP1 we had Sean Gelael in the car, together with Daniil. We had some big test items to get through and both drivers completed their programmes. Sean did a really good job, followed a consistent approach to his driving, gave us some good feedback and we managed to get useful data on a couple of test items. With Daniil, we did a bit more set-up work and we ended the session reasonably happy with the baseline set-up on both cars, even though it was clear that we still had some more work to do to make the next step into FP2. For the evening session we had Carlos back in the car, so he was playing catch-up. He conducted some longer runs just to get familiar with the car and the circuit again, which he completed without any fuss. Daniil was focusing on some of the changes we’d made over the break and I think it’s fair to say that with both drivers we didn’t really get the best out of the car and the set-up wasn’t quite right for the short run. We then moved to the long runs and again we’re not entirely happy with where we are today but we’ve got a good idea of what we’re going to do tonight. We’re confident we’ll make a step forward tomorrow and try and get the car a bit more solidly into the top ten, which we believe it has the potential to do here.”

Ferrari

After being second fastest in P1 and showing encouraging pace on long-runs, Scuderia Ferrari drivers Seb Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had to cope with a far-from-ideal night session in P2. Seb didn’t manage to post a quick lap on the Ultrasoft tyres because of traffic and then, because of a light brush with the barriers, while Kimi struggled throughout with the handling of his car. In the end, both ran in high fuel load configuration. So it was a lackluster day, but nevertheless, both drivers are conscious that today’s programme was quite busy and now it’s a matter of looking at all the data to find the right settings for tomorrow’s Free Practice and Qualifying.

Seb commented: “Today was a mixed day and obviously not an ideal one. I lost a little bit of balance and confidence. Today we tried a couple of things and I am not sure they were the right things to do. Now we’ll see what we can do for tomorrow. We need to improve, but I think we have enough time to find the solution.Today we were here to practice and, being Friday, everything we did was for free. Clearly, we are not where we want to be so there’s still a lot of work ahead of us”.

Kimi said: “Overall it was just a difficult day. It was far from ideal and for sure we were expecting an easier start, but it’s only Friday and tomorrow is another day. We tried some things and not everything made sense in the end, so now we have a lot of work to do. Here is no different from any other race; it is true that the tires are a key point, but first of all you have to make sure you have everything you want and a good set-up. And I’m sure we can improve for tomorrow”.