Team reaction after day one in Hockenheim (part 2)

Sauber Ferrari

The weather conditions turned out to be rather nasty on Friday, the first day of the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. Due to rain a photo call in the morning, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Sauber Motorsport, had to be postponed and in the first free practice session the track was wet for the entire session. The second 90 minute session allowed proper running on a dry track and saw Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa 11th and 13th .fastest respectively.

Kamui Kobayashi: “It was a bit tricky for us that it was wet in the morning because we had a huge programme with the new components on the car, but still we got a lot of work done today. Braking for turn six, the hairpin, is the most difficult part on the wet track. The balance isn’t too bad, really, and we can improve it with some set-up changes. We definitely have to find something that enables us to make better use of the softer tyre compound. I don’t regard the difference between hard and super soft as a problem on this track.”

Pedro de la Rosa: “We had good runs in the wet this morning and now also good runs in dry conditions, which actually was a bonus because it was not expected to stay dry in free practice two. We know more or less what we need now. For me we have to improve the front end, and I think we can do this with some set up changes.”

James Key, Technical Director: “We haven’t been in the wet for a while, so we had to see where we were this morning on the full wet tyres which we started on, and then the intermediate tyres later in the session. It looked okay, and the drivers were happy with the car towards the end of the session, as the grip came back. In the second session we decided to go out early just in case it rained again. We did as much of the programme that was planned for the first session, but also combined this with the tyre tests. The session was fairly productive, and in general the drivers were happy with the car. There were some balance issues because of the general track conditions, but we have been able to cope with our set-up. The updates we’ve got seem to work as we expected, which is good.”

Force India Mercedes

The Force India F1 Team’s German Grand Prix weekend got off to a positive start in today’s practice sessions at Hockenheim. Adrian Sutil had the perfect beginning to his home race when he set the quickest time in the opening session and then demonstrated a solid long run pace in the second, while Tonio Liuzzi captured the ninth quickest time in FP1.

Heavy rain marked the early part of the opening session, however Adrian was able to confidently negotiate the conditions to top the timesheets, more than one second ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

With the rain easing for the second session the focus switched to evaluating the dry tyre options available. Both Adrian and Tonio completed long runs however with periodic light rain over the 90 minutes the pair just missed the window to set the optimum lap times. Nevertheless the duo completed their respective programmes to establish a strong baseline set-up for the weekend.

Adrian Sutil: The first session was obviously very good. We went out on the extremes first of all and I could set some quick times and felt very confident in the conditions. When a drier line came out later on we then switched to the intermediate tyres and, again, the car behaved very well and I came out P1, which was a nice feeling in front of my home crowd. In the afternoon I think we had a good balance on the car, but we put new sets on just when the rain came so I couldn’t do a good lap time. The position is not really representative of where we are here and we know we can be much stronger. The long run pace was good and I have a positive feeling for tomorrow.

Tonio Liuzzi: It was not an easy day because of the weather: in the morning it was raining and then in the afternoon the track started wet but got drier all the time. I think the pace we’ve shown here is quite positive and overall we are in good shape at this point in the weekend. In the morning we still had some problems going into the corners and then on the straights so I couldn’t quite get a clear run. In the afternoon though we had a good session and we understood a few areas for tomorrow, working very closely with Bridgestone to get the most out of the tyres.

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: One wet and one almost completely dry session today. During the morning we ran both the wet and the intermediate tyres, establishing the crossovers and trying to get a feel for the way the track was drying. The car was quite well balanced in the tricky conditions and Adrian set a good pace. In FP2 we ran our option tyres just at the moment it started to spit with rain, so probably lost the best of the performance from them. All the same quite an interesting scenario this weekend and we now have the information to build on for qualifying and the race.

Toro Rosso Ferrari

Sebastien Buemi: “The morning session went well, as the driver can make more of a difference in the wet conditions and I was P7, looking competitive, but in the dry, we need to find a better set-up. Therefore, we need to work hard now, analysing the data to try and improve the car for tomorrow. We had some new elements on the car here, so we have to assess how to get the best from them. The dry tyre comparison went well and we have a pretty clear picture of how to use them.”

Jaime Alguersuari: “It was an interesting day, dealing with both wet and dry conditions. We can be reasonably satisfied, because we completed a lot of laps and I am pleased not to have made any mistakes in the wet. However, my lack of experience at this track meant I was unable to make the most of the super-soft Option tyre, setting my fastest lap on old tyres, so a good run on new tyres could have made a significant difference to my lap time. At least I now know the track, although my confidence was not so high in these mixed conditions.”

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “We had a trouble free day with both drivers completing a lot of laps. In the morning, we were able to evaluate the extreme wet and the intermediate tyres, working in race conditions, to see in what situations both compounds were at their best. Jaime even tried the dry tyres in damp conditions this morning, which is good in terms of him building experience. Overall, in these difficult conditions, the drivers made no mistakes which is another positive element. This afternoon, in the dry, we returned to our routine Friday work, evaluating different aero components, as well as working on car set-up on the two dry tyre compounds. Both behaved quite well and the results of running on the two rain tyres in the morning also proved that they last well on this track.”

Virgin Racing Cosworth

Torrential rain falling before the start of the first Free Practice session for the German Grand Prix meant that little experience could be gained for the first race to be run using both the Hard and Super Soft Bridgestone tyres. Instead the team concentrated on the wet set-up and waiting for the optimum time to set a quick lap. Both the extreme wet and the intermediate tyres were used, with the faster times being set on the latter tyre in the second half of the session.

By the time the second session had started, the track had dried sufficiently for the cars to run on slicks, and a frantic session ensued while teams tried to extract two sessions worth of information from the 90 minute period. Both the team and the cars were on top form, with Timo putting in 30 laps and Lucas 31. Timo ended the session fastest of the new teams, being the only driver to break the 80 second barrier.

Timo Glock: “It has been a good start to the weekend. The first session obviously got off to a slow start because of the weather but as the track dried out I was very comfortable with the direction we were starting to head in with the set-up and pleased to end the session in 12th - our highest placed position of the season so far. This afternoon, we improved the car some more to end the day ahead of Lotus as the best of the new teams and within 0.2sec of Toro Rosso. History has shown that we are strong at improving the car from Friday to Saturday and so I think we have a lot more to look forward to yet this weekend. It feels like the latest updates have given us another positive step forward for sure, so I’m optimistic about a good performance in front of my home crowd.”

Lucas di Grassi: “This has been a very productive Friday and we are looking very strong for this weekend thanks to the new updates we have here this weekend. I hope that the weather stays stable so we can continue to keep improving the car and bring home the best result possible on Sunday.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director: “A positive start to the weekend, despite tricky weather conditions. Both drivers and their engineers adapted their respective programmes well to the changing conditions, and we have made more progress on car performance with the new developments that we ran today. As this package came so late from our digital development process, we were only able to get some of the elements of our Hockenheim upgrade on the cars today. The rest of the package will be fitted this evening, plus we’ll analyse the tests done today and look forward to some more progress tomorrow and Sunday.”

Lotus Cosworth

Hockenheim’s Friday practice sessions saw Lotus Racing’s reliability return as the Anglo / Malaysian squad ran a total of 115 laps with no major problems in the changeable German conditions. The team completed all their planned programmes for Jarno Trulli (car 18), Heikki Kovalainen (car 19) and Fairuz Fauzy, deputising for Heikki in FP1.

Fairuz Fauzy: “First of all I was very happy to be back in the car. The conditions weren’t great, but that was the same for everyone, so we all had to deal with the fact it was pouring with rain, and then started drying out, then raining again. But I found myself getting more comfortable with every lap. Once I’d got the tyre temperatures up I could push, and the car was reliable throughout, so we got through the programme, which is obviously what we set out to do. I think I could have gone quicker still, but I’m pleased with my input today and can’t wait to get back in the car again!”

Jarno Trulli: “It was a positive day today. We put in a lot of laps in both sessions and I think the car is behaving pretty well here. The track’s improved throughout the day and after getting a decent amount of running in I’m confident we can deliver a good result tomorrow.”

Heikki Kovalainen: “The main thing today is that we have had good reliability all day, but it was a bit disappointing as I couldn’t find a good balance, so we’ve got work to do on that tomorrow.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A useful day for us with no real problems with either car. Jarno’s final run was brought to an early end with a small problem with his fuel pump, but apart from that it was a trouble free session. Fairuz did an excellent job this morning in the wet session, running well on both the full wets and the inters. Considering the limited running he’s had in the car he should be very pleased with his day’s work. In the afternoon we were able to work on the dry setup and I think we found a clear direction towards the end of the session and there’s definitely more performance to come tomorrow.”

Riad Asmat, Lotus Racing CEO: “Firstly it was good to see Fairuz put in a very good morning’s work in what were pretty tricky conditions. He did exactly what we asked of him and it’s great to see he got a decent run compared to the limited track time he had at Silverstone. We’ve got a fair amount to come tomorrow in terms of pace, and the team will work hard to build on the progress we’ve been making throughout the season, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

HRT F1 Cosworth

With a mixture of wet and damp conditions, Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team, concluded the first day at the Hockenheim circuit with positive results. In the rainy morning session, Bruno Senna finished in position 22 (1.31.720) and Sakon Yamamoto (24th) did a best lap time of 1.32.791. The track was only wet in some places during the second practice and both drivers of the Spanish team could run 74 laps in total. With a fastest lap of 1.21.988, Bruno Senna ended up 23rd while Sakon Yamamoto was 24th with a lap time of 1.23.066.

Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “It was a positive first day for our team here in Hockenheim and we could do a lot of laps in both sessions. When it stopped raining in the first practice, the track got quicker and we changed to intermediate tyres. Bruno Senna showed a good performance in wet conditions. It was encouraging to see that under these circumstances, we are able to compete with the other drivers. But there is a fine line in finding the right measure when the track is getting dry again. For Sakon Yamamoto it was the first time in the rain for a long time and he was concentrating on driving under these conditions and getting as much data as possible. Now, we are hoping for a good and successful Saturday and Sunday.”

Sakon Yamamoto: “Today, we there were mixed conditions in the two practices. In the first practice we started on wet tyres and changed to intermediates afterwards. It was a good opportunity for me to try the wet tyres. In the afternoon, the track dried up and some parts were still damped. We could try both tyre compounds, the options and the primes, for the qualifying and the race and I got a lot of experiences and data with these tyres as I could do many laps today preparing for tomorrow.”

Bruno Senna: “It was a good and productive day for us. We managed to do some testing and we got an idea of what we are going to do to the car. I enjoyed driving under wet conditions this morning. At the end of the first session, I pushed a bit too hard and went onto gravel. Now we have to focus on the qualifying and the race and hopefully we can do a good result.”