Team reaction after day one in Interlagos (part 2)

Patrick Head, Director of Engineering: That was a normal Friday; we ran through a number of options, some of which proved beneficial for us. Nico did a good long run on tanks so we’re happy we’ve done our homework. I understand it could be wet tomorrow so that could make things interesting for everyone.

Rubens Barrichello: Today went ok. We worked through everything we needed to and tried out various combinations. We need to make some improvements and get everything working for tomorrow as I don’t think the car was any faster in the afternoon’s session. Typically for Brazil, it’s looking like it could be wet tomorrow so we have to prepare for that.

Nico Hulkenberg: It looks very competitive out there this weekend so I think it could be quite a difficult task to get into the top ten tomorrow. Personally, I didn’t get a very clear run on the option on low fuel today but everything else went well. We still have to improve the car ahead of qualifying so we have work to do.

The atmospheric Interlagos track in the heart of megalopolis Sao Paulo was the setting for the opening day of practice for round 18 of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Brazilian Grand Prix. Force India’s preparations for the penultimate round of the series got off to a good start as it evaluated new aero development items, tyre compounds and a baseline set up for the weekend.
In the opening session Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi both completed 26 laps each, with Adrian recording the ninth quickest time of the 90 minute practice, just half a second off the top five. In the afternoon a smooth session produced 69 laps in total with Adrian 14th quickest and Tonio 16th.

Adrian Sutil: Today was a reasonable start to the weekend with no major problems and some solid running in both sessions. We ran through our usual programme of long and shorter runs and tyre work and got lots of information to work on tonight. Unusually for here the surface was quite grippy, even in the morning, so we didn’t need to wait for it to rubber in to get the tyre comparison data. We also had some new items to test and the car felt consistent and balanced, even if there wasn’t such a huge improvement in time, maybe half a tenth or so. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow: the weather conditions for qualifying look to be a bit mixed so it could be an opportunity to show well.

Tonio Liuzzi: Overall it went pretty well today over the two sessions. We still need to understand a bit more about the set-up as this is a difficult track to get right with the long straights and then the twisty middle section - you need to get the right compromise between the downforce levels. We also had an issue with the switchable rear wing in the morning but we sorted it for the afternoon. We could go some way into understanding the tyre performance but we’ve got a bit of work to do on the balance to get everything right, although on the positive side we know there’s still more to come from us.

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: A trouble free day for both cars, well executed programmes and good quality data. We’ve a few decisions to take overnight with respect to set up and some of the aero changes we evaluated today. The rest of the weekend will be tactically an interesting challenge for us with compromises for qualifying and the race to be weighed up.

Sebastien Buemi: “The day went quite smoothly, apart from a problem with the brakes at the start of the afternoon session. When you brake at the end of the straight and the pedal goes long, it’s not a nice feeling so I came straight back to the pits. Well done to the team for fixing the problem so quickly. After that I was able to finish my programme, getting a good read on the tyres over the long run with both the Option and the Prime tyres. They say it will rain tomorrow, which means it will be a completely different story. We now need to look for ways in which we can improve for tomorrow.”
First Practice Session - Best lap 1.14.734, pos. 18th, 29 laps
Second Practice Session - Best lap 1.14.304, pos. 17th, 33 laps

Jaime Alguersuari: “This was a difficult day in which I struggled with understeer and oversteer and currently we don’t look very competitive in the dry, so we must see what we can do to improve as I was not so happy with the balance of the car. But things could be better for us if the rain comes tomorrow as predicted. As for the incident with Schumacher, I had spun at the previous corner and so he came alongside me on the outside going into Turn 1. I tried to keep my inside line as he came round but all the same we touched.”
First Practice Session - Best lap 1.14.618, pos. 17th, 30 laps
Second Practice Session - Best lap 1.14.578, pos. 18th, 37 laps

Laurent Mekies, Chief Engineer: “We completed our programmes with both cars, making up for lost time after we had a brake system issue on Sebastien’s car this afternoon. We tried a lot of different things across both cars, with Sebastien much happier with the balance than Jaime. Now we must look at the data from both cars and take the best elements from each of them to move forward tomorrow. However, we have to bear in mind that we are heading for a wet Qualifying and any decisions we reach regarding set-up has to take this into consideration, allowing for the fact it should be dry again on Sunday.”

Brazil’s FP1 and FP2 saw Lotus Racing enjoying one of their best Fridays of the season. Trouble-free sessions in the morning and the afternoon ended with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen topping the new teams’ time sheets in 19th and 20th places respectively.

Jarno Trulli: “That was a pretty good day. It’s good to complete so many laps and have no problems at all. When the car feels well balanced, like it did today, you can push around the whole lap and end up where we did, ahead of the other new guys. I have to say this is one of my favourite tracks. It’s very technical and I think it suits my style well. We’ve made a few changes to the setup for this weekend and that’s given me more confidence in the car – I think you can see the results of that in my laptimes, and I think there’s more to come tomorrow.”

Heikki Kovalainen: “It was a good day for us. It started well, with the confirmation of the Renault engines next year, and then on track we got through the whole programme with no problems. The car felt good on both types of tyres and with the different fuel loads and when you compare our times with our direct competitors I think we’re looking very strong. I really like this circuit – it’s been evolving all day and it’s a good challenge to find the right setup to cope with the high speed and the low speed sections. When you have a good day like we have had today it’s a very rewarding circuit to drive.”

Dieter Gass, Sporting Director: “We are all pleased with the performance of both cars today. There is obviously more work to do tonight, and I think there is still more to come from the cars, but the real variable will be the weather tomorrow. The forecasts are looking very interesting and it will be a good challenge for the drivers, the mechanics and the engineers to capitalise on any opportunities that arise on track tomorrow.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “It was a very successful day for us, perhaps one of the best Fridays of the year. Both cars ran without any problems and the performance looks good on the short and the long runs. We ended up exactly where we wanted to be, and we are maybe looking slightly more competitive with the midfield than we have been. On the whole this was a very good Friday.”

The first two free practice sessions for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix got underway today at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo where hot and sunny conditions prevailed.

Taking part in his fourth and final free practice session, Jerome D’Ambrosio was at the wheel of car 25 concluding his race weekend evaluation role. Running alongside Timo Glock, he conducted an aero evaluation programme and provided feedback on the track conditions. He completed a total of 28 laps. Timo’s first day of running got off to a positive start and he ended the morning session 20th after 20 laps.

This afternoon, Lucas took to his home track for the very first time in a Formula One car, in what he described as a very exciting moment. He began his familiarisation and setup work, completing 38 laps. As usual both he and Timo were able to compare the Prime and the Option and Timo was able to complete a further 35 laps.

Timo Glock: “Today was a bit of a strange day. We had a good first session but the second free practice wasn’t very helpful. The Prime tyre was working well but we didn’t do so well on the Options. After trying the Option tyre we made some setup changes and I’m confident that we have a good direction for tomorrow. After that we will see what the weather brings and what opportunities we can create for ourselves.”

Lucas di Grassi: “Today was my first time ever driving the Interlagos circuit in a Formula One car. It is just an amazing feeling to be racing in my home town and I’m very excited about the whole weekend. Today was a good start; although I missed the first session I was still able to get up to speed quite quickly. I think we made all the right setup changes, so I’m feeling competitive this weekend and of course I have that little extra motivation that a home race brings.”

Jerome D’Ambrosio, Reserve Driver: “Today was my final free practice session with the team before I take part in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi in two weeks’ time. It was good to finish my fourth session on a positive note and generally I am very happy with my performance. I have learned a great deal and I look forward to bringing all of that experience together in the test. Today was a constructive day for me; we did a lot of laps and some good setup work to make sure we have a good basis for the weekend. I think we can make good progress so I wish the team some good luck for the race.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “A good day for the number 25 car with Jerome putting in another polished performance and then Lucas quickly getting up to speed in the second free practice on a circuit that surprisingly he is not that familiar with. Both drivers worked well with their engineers to tune the setup and the car ran perfectly all day. Timo’s day was less smooth; he experienced a few electrical gremlins in the morning and struggled to get the best out of the Option tyres in the afternoon. However, by the end of the day he had found a better direction on a dry setup while keeping one eye on the wet weather forecast for tomorrow.”

Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team was in action today for the first time in Brazil and got off to a good start as the Spanish team was able to keep on closing the gap to the other teams and finish close to its competitors. In the first practice session, both drivers got used to the track. Christian Klien finished 23rd (1.16.839) and Bruno Senna, who was racing in an F1 car at his home track for the first time, ended up 24th (1.17.360). In the second 90-minute session, both Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team drivers were able to improve and keep on reducing the difference with the rest of drivers. The Brazilian driver clocked a best time of 1.16.070 (22nd) and the Austrian driver stopped the clock on 1.16.082 (23rd), doing a total of 128 laps between them.

Dr. Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “It was an efficient first day in Brazil. We completed 128 laps in total and both drivers got used to the track during the day. In the morning, the second gear on Christian Klien’s car broke before the end of the session but the mechanics could fix the problem for the second practice. Other than in Singapore, Christian felt comfortable in the car from the beginning and could adjust the car to his driving style. Bruno Senna showed a solid performance in front of his home crowd. We could close the gap to the other new teams and even end up in front of one of them.”

Christian Klien: “The first day started off very well for us and I felt comfortable as soon as I jumped into the car. We could already work on the set-up for the race. Unfortunately, I had to stop before the end of the first session because the second gear was broken. We lost one run with this but in the afternoon, the car was fixed again and I could do some long runs. I am very happy to be back in the car and to complete a full race weekend again after Singapore.”

Bruno Senna: “I was very excited and happy today to race at home and on this new track for me. It was a good day and I could do many laps. We worked very hard to find more performance from the car and learnt a lot. In the second session, we managed to find a better compromise. We will see what happens tomorrow, as it looks as if it’s going to rain and I am looking forward to be in front of my home crowd again.”