FP1 & FP2 - Japanese GP report: Red Bull Renault

SEBASTIAN VETTEL

“I think we can definitely do better than fifth, but we may hit the limit when we get to third! Mercedes seem to be very quick around here but I think we can improve, especially on a short run. It would be nice to fight the Mercedes in the race, who knows if it rains, but otherwise we will be against Williams, McLaren, who seem stronger here, and Ferrari.”

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“I made a mistake in FP2. I did a quick lap and then I was trying to get a good exit to start the next one. We were trying to cool the tyres and there was a yellow flag so I was trying to go slow enough to miss it at the start of the lap, but I think the tyres cooled too much and I was too hard on the throttle for the situation and lost the car. It’s of course not what I wanted in the first ten minutes of the second session, but I’ll learn from it. It’s not ideal as we missed running this afternoon, but Sebastian did a full session so we will be able to see his data. The Mercs were really quick today, we think we’re there but then they pull a gap. I think we should be able to be third on the grid.”