Team reaction after day one in Melbourne (part 2)

Williams Cosworth

Sam Michael, Technical Director : “Today our programme involved working on mechanical set-up changes and testing revised aero parts for the FW32. We managed to evaluate most of the parts, but our schedule in session two was reduced by the wet weather. From the limited data we collected on the option tyre, it looks like it will be a stable tyre during the race.”

Rubens Barrichello : “The rain came in P2, it affected everyone. The team did a really good job sending me out at the right times when the track was dry so we collected as much information as we could considering the conditions. There is still quite a lot of work to be done in order to get us through to Q3 tomorrow.”

Nico Hulkenberg : “Albert Park is quite a cool track; I really enjoyed it out there. It’s very bumpy, but definitely good fun. Running in the second session was interrupted by the weather so we didn’t get as much time as we wanted, but I feel familiar with the track now and comfortable with the car.”

Sauber Ferrari

Because of mixed weather conditions with some rain in the second free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix it is difficult to estimate everybody’s performance. However, Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi had a trouble free second session and were 12th and 13th. The first 90-minutes session at lunchtime hadn’t been as pleasant. After only a few laps Kobayashi had ripped off half of the front wing when hitting a cone and needed to come in for repairs. On his next run the new front wing came off. Kobayashi only did five laps. Ten minutes before the end of the session De la Rosa also stopped on the track due to a clutch problem.

Pedro de la Rosa: “Generally the car feels better than in Bahrain, which is good news. Of course more running would have helped to improve the set-up, but I can’t complain as I had some dry running.”

Kamui Kobayashi: “In the first session I came too close to that cone and hit it, and then I could not do any more running after I lost the new front wing. Of course I would have liked to do more laps, but the rain in the second session did not help. However, I still got a good feeling for the track. We will now concentrate and work on improving the car, the main problem is an overall lack of grip.”

Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “In the first practice we lost time on Kamui’s car due to a broken front wing mounting. This resulted from damage earlier to the wing. Pedro was hindered by a clutch control problem in the first free practice and also lost some time. In FP1 we tested a new rear wing. However, there was not enough time to collect sufficient data, therefore we decided to go back to the previous version and concentrate on working on the set-up of the car. Due to the mixed weather conditions in the second session we were not able to complete our programme. However, I think we found a baseline for tomorrow.”

Ferrari

Stefano Domenicali. “We tried to get through all our planned programme, which centred on finding the best set-up for the race and on evaluating the two types of tyre Bridgestone has supplied for this Grand Prix. Obviously, we would have preferred to have been able to do more laps in consistent conditions, but this applies to everyone, so it’s not worth complaining about. All in all, from what we could see, the situation is similar to the one in Bahrain. Tomorrow, it will be vital to have a good qualifying: in order to do that, it will be very important to manage the timing to find the best moment to go out and do a time, especially in the first two sessions.”

Fernando Alonso: “I am happy to be racing in Melbourne: this is one of the most enjoyable events on the calendar. Overall, I am reasonably happy with the work we managed to get done today, despite the rain that came in the second session. Sure, I would have liked to have got a greater understanding of the tyre behaviour, especially the softer ones, which we only used in FP2. However, I think everyone was in the same situation. We worked exclusively at preparing for Sunday’s race and that’s why I’m not bothered by my position in the classification. Usually on Friday, this track is very dirty but this time the grip level on the first lap was not so bad. For the race, tyre management will be a key factor, given that it’s very probable that we will have to do a lot of laps on the same set of tyres. We will need to try and handle it in the best way possible to be able to attack when the right moment comes.”

Felipe Massa: “It was a difficult Friday, especially the second session. Because of the rain which came and went, we did not manage to do exactly what we would have wanted. We concentrated on race preparation while it’s possible some other teams were on a different programme to us. So, there is no point in trying to understand the situation simply by looking at the time sheet. Our aim tomorrow is to be well prepared for qualifying, which at this track will be even more important than usual. From what we have seen, the tyres do not suffer much degradation, but it’s still a bit early to draw any definite conclusions. I like the Albert Park circuit a lot: I have always been quick here, but for one reason or another, I have never managed to finish the race in the points, apart from in 2007 when, after a difficult qualifying, I finished sixth. I hope I have better luck this time.”

Chris Dyer: “We did not manage to get through everything we wanted to do, but all the same, we were able to acquire enough information on the handling of the car and the tyres. The F10 seems to be pretty good on this track too, both on the harder and softer tyres. As scheduled, both cars were fitted with the engines they had on Friday and Saturday in Bahrain. On Fernando’s car, we also tried a new updated front wing, which gave positive results. Tomorrow, it will be available to both drivers.”

Lotus Cosworth

The second practice session on Friday afternoon in Melbourne began under cloudy skies with light rain falling, curtailing track time for Lotus Racing throughout the afternoon session. Despite this the team ran a solid session and finished ahead of both other new teams having completed a total of 32 laps in second practice, with Jarno Trulli finishing the session 20th (17 laps / 30 laps total) with a best time of 1.30.695 and Heikki Kovalainen 18th on 1.29.860 (15 laps / 41 laps total).

Jarno Trulli : “It’s been a bit of a difficult day because we lost a bit of time this morning, and unfortunately this afternoon the track was pretty wet so we couldn’t really find a good set up. When I went out I had a few issues with understeer but, though it’ll be a little difficult tomorrow, we’ll see what we can learn in final practice before qualifying starts.”

Heikki Kovalainen : “The second session was much better for me, because the car functioned very well and we had the differential working 100%. The car felt really really good and we were very pleased with the way it was behaving. Obviously the rain disrupted things a little bit, but everyone was in the same boat. So, we’re well prepared, and we’re just going to try to maintain the reliability that we’ve achieved so far. Overall we’re in really good shape.”

Mike Gascoyne : “Obviously the second session was affected by rain, which made it difficult, but we were able to run both types of tyre and get a feeling for how they both behave. Overall not a bad day – we got through most of our program, despite the conditions in the second session, so I’m pretty pleased.

Virgin Racing Cosworth

Virgin Racing’s Australian Grand Prix weekend got underway in Melbourne today as they took part in the first of the Free Practice sessions in Albert Park.

As is always the case on this temporary circuit, the track was very ‘green’ this morning, which is why Virgin Racing joined the other teams in sitting out the early part of the session for the track to come good. In fact, in contrast to the last few days, it did the opposite. The track temperature started to tumble midway through the session and had dropped 5°C by the end of the morning.

Lucas di Grassi had a positive morning’s running, clocking up 25 laps of the 3.295mile circuit. Timo’s first session was curtailed by a gearbox oil leak.

This afternoon Lucas completed two installation laps, by which time the overcast skies gave way to rain. He then experienced a telemetry box problem which confined him to the garage. The fix to Timo’s car was effected in time for him to secure at least some running towards the end of the session but the combined problems meant that neither he nor Lucas were able to set representative lap times at any point during the day.

Timo Glock : “It has been a tough day for sure. We had a gearbox oil leak this morning – a new problem which arose and we had to spend a lot of the day fixing it. This afternoon I managed to get back out on track at the end of the session but it was frustrating to lose so much track time. I think we will be playing catch-up in the morning so we have to hope things go our way in time for Qualifying.”

Lucas di Grassi : “Today was a mix of a very good session in the morning and some problems in the afternoon. In P1 I was just looking to get the first feeling of the track and everything went as planned. This afternoon was a bit more troubled and as soon as we went out we experienced some problems with the telemetry box and I lost the rest of the second session. Not the perfect situation to go into a race weekend at a circuit that is new to me, but we will keep our heads up, fix the problem and go for it tomorrow.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director : “With Lucas this morning we had a good session. The target was to test the car and give Lucas plenty of acclimatisation laps - which we achieved successfully. This afternoon he had a problem with a gearbox oil line which delayed us at the start of the session. Once he got going again he was further delayed by a failed real-time telemetry sensor, and as it isn’t possible to run the car without it, we had to change it. We tried to get out again before the end of the session, but unfortunately just missed out.

“For Timo the morning was unfortunately dominated by a problem with the gearbox oil system. We managed to solve our issues over the lunch break, but it required a lot of work and caused a delay to the start of his second session. He went out towards the end of the afternoon and was quite happy with the car, considering his lack of running.

“Obviously today was not as smooth as we would have liked but we’ve made progress since Bahrain so the team will stay focused on the positives.”

HRT F1 Cosworth

Karun Chandhok in chassis F110-01 #20 completed 19 laps for a best of 1m 34.251s while Bruno Senna in F110-02 #21 completed 24 with a best time of 1m 33.401s. Karun’s car featured improved gearbox hydraulics after his problems in Bahrain, while Bruno’s had a new Cosworth engine following his overheating in Bahrain.

In the first of today’s practice session the HRT F1 Team (Hispania Racing F1 Team) continued its development program at only the second Grand Prix of its short history. In the afternoon that process was hampered by a transmission problem for Karun Chandhok and fuel pressure gremlins for Bruno Senna. Nevertheless, Bruno’s car has now covered its first race distance if the team takes into account all of the running from the Bahrain weekend.

The first session was productive for both drivers even though it was red flagged twice for incidents involving Kamui Kobayashi’s BMW Sauber.

During the afternoon session a rain shower adversely affected the grip levels. Karun left the pits 30 minutes into that second session but within 100 meters stopped with a problem on the gearbox, leaving the car parked by the side of the track.

As track conditions later improved as the rain stopped and the surface dried again, Bruno was unable to take advantage as his car was suffering from fuel pressure problems.

Karun Chandhok: “We were ready straight away when the first session started and after a seven-lap run I achieved a best lap of 1m 36.259s. It was nice to do some useful laps again this morning, and a pity I had the gearbox problem in the second session.”

Bruno Senna: “The morning’s session was normal for us, but also served as a test session. We added a significant amount to our total mileage and thus added to our understanding of the car. The focus was on conducting aero tests, but also highlighted that we need to improve the mechanical side, how the car behaves on the bumps on this track. All in all it was a good step forward for the car and for the team operationally. Overall it was a success, and I am having fun.”

Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "Today was a great job from the team. Everything went to plan this morning and was smoother than it had been when we were ‘born’ in Bahrain. It showed that we are fully operational. Everything ran as smoothly as possible. Most of the components of the car, chassis and suspension have now been tested effectively over a full race distance. Everyone has produced an amazing effort to make it happen."