FP1 & FP2 - Russian GP 2021 - Team quotes

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN completed its first day of on-track action in Sochi, with Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi both setting competitive times in the two practice sessions. Räikkönen made his return to the track following two events on the sidelines, while Giovinazzi’s afternoon session was cut short by contact with the wall halfway through FP2.

The team will now prepare for tomorrow’s qualifying session, with the threat of rain looming over Sochi.

Kimi Räikkönen

“It was an ok day to get back to the car. It didn’t feel much different than any other times, and the job we did wasn’t too bad. Things ran smoothly, the conditions were ok so we were able to do our work. First impressions are ok but when it really matters is tomorrow and Sunday. The feeling with the car is ok, but we’ll need to see what happens in qualifying to see where we stack up against the others.”

Antonio Giovinazzi

“The sessions were going pretty well until the incident. FP1 wasn’t too bad and FP2 was an improvement, overall a good start of the weekend. The wind was rather strong, I got a bit of understeer outside the corner, touched the astroturf on the exit and lost the rear. Tomorrow is another day, we need to see what the weather is going to be like and continue our work.”

AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly

“It’s been a positive day in terms of performance, this car seems to be working well here so far and it’s a good start going into the weekend. Whilst the performance is there, I’m not 100% comfortable with the balance inside the car yet so we’ve got a few things that we can take away and improve tonight. We know both Charles and Max are taking penalties for the race, so there are definitely some opportunities for us this weekend. Our main focus though is on our own package and maximising what we can do to help in our tight midfield battle.”

Yuki Tsunoda

“I’ve struggled with the general grip here so far in Sochi, but I’ve managed to gain important mileage in the car today, particularly for Sunday, as we think the race may be sunny. We know the performance is there in the car so I just need to go away tonight, look at the data and see how I can improve for tomorrow. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the weather, so we just need to be as prepared as possible going into FP3 and Qualifying.”

Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer)

“Overall, it’s been a mixed day across the two sides of the garage. Pierre had a strong day, we did some set-up work in FP1 and learnt about the requirements of this track, in terms of the balance in the colder temperatures. We didn’t have a perfect car during the first session, so we did a lot of fine-tuning before heading out again in the afternoon, which has proved to be a step in the right direction. Yuki wasn’t quite as confident in the car and hasn’t been able to extract the same lap times, so we need to do some work tonight to really understand what to do to make him feel more comfortable in the car and extract its potential. The forecast for tomorrow is looking to be a complete wash-out, which likely means we’ll be using the Wets during FP3, hence we used an additional set of Softs today to ensure we had all the relevant data for the race on Sunday, when we expect it will be dry again.”

Red Bull

MAX VERSTAPPEN

“We thought it would be best to take the engine penalty here in Russia, we took everything into account before making the decision and we of course considered the weather for tomorrow. We had to take the penalty at some point so if we didn’t take it here, we would have taken it somewhere else. As for the set up, we are trying to make the best possible race car for this weekend despite starting from the back of the grid. I hope it’s going to work out and we will try to make the best of it during the race on Sunday, for now let’s wait and see what the weather will be like tomorrow.”

SERGIO PEREZ

“I think we have some good information going into qualifying tomorrow, when there won’t be much running due to the rain, so today was probably the last chance we have to test the dry conditions before qualifying. I think there is potential in the car for this weekend, we just have to make sure we get it right. I think my first and second sector looked good but there are some areas to improve in the third sector. There are some set-up changes we might need to make to the car to suit the weather conditions come qualifying but there are still a lot of interesting things to be analysed later on this evening. With Max starting from the back, it is going to be a bit of a challenge as a Team and obviously Mercedes are very strong around here but hopefully we are able to put some pressure on them and qualify very close to them, that would be ideal.”

Alpine F1

Alpine F1 Team finished with both cars inside the top eight at the Sochi Autodrom as preparations got underway for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon ended the day in fifth place with Fernando Alonso tucked neatly inside the top ten in eighth, after a dry and crisp day at the 5.848km Olympic Park venue in Sochi.

With the threat of rain looming large for tomorrow, both cars completed some decent mileage during the morning in a trouble-free session. Fernando ended the session in tenth and Esteban slotted into eleventh, with less than a tenth separating the two cars.

Free Practice 2 saw a mix of high and low fuel running for both cars, with Esteban and Fernando occupying the top three positions after some early runs using the Soft tyres.

On a brand-new set of Softs, Esteban improved his time with a 1min 34.402secs, which was good enough to place him fifth in the timings. Fernando also improved his time during the first sector, but a red flag for Antonio Giovinazzi’s accident meant his effort was in the end futile, leaving him in eighth on a previous lap time of 1min 34.762secs. The Spanish driver recorded the fastest Sector 3 time of the day.

Both cars finished their day assessing some high fuel running on the Medium tyres ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon

“It’s good to be back in Sochi as it’s a track that I’ve always enjoyed racing at. It’s high grip, especially in comparison to Monza last time out. We have the Softest tyres on the range here, so that gives us some things to try and understand. It’s been a very busy day for us, busier than a usual Friday, with half an eye on the weather tomorrow and we aimed to be as productive as possible. Things could be interesting tomorrow, so optimising today was important. We completed quite a few runs - low fuel and high fuel - and we have a good idea on what we can do on car set-up. Let’s see what the rest of the weekend brings but so far, I’m pleased with our progress.”

Fernando Alonso

“It was a reasonable day for us today. We don’t know how useful some of the data will be because of the potential rain forecasted for tomorrow, but the car seems to behave okay here. We set up a few different things in FP2 and we found a few benefits, so I am happy with that. We could have achieved a better lap time without the red flag for Antonio (Giovinazzi), but it’s only Friday, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Davide Brivio, Racing Director

“We had to try and do as much work as possible today knowing that tomorrow’s weather looks very unsettled. We’ve had a positive day with our usual combination of long runs and short runs with different tyre compounds. We collected a lot of good information and had some decent lap times. At the moment it looks like the weather may be dry on Sunday so our relative pace looks positive for the race; let’s see what tomorrow brings as it looks like we will have to deal with some very significant rain.”

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel

“It was a productive day of running: we covered a good number of laps and found a decent balance with the car. That is positive because it can be tricky to find the flow in Sochi, so I think we have a good starting point. But it looks like it will rain tomorrow. That could make for an interesting qualifying session and, because it will mix up the field, it could lead to some opportunities for us, especially with some other drivers taking grid penalties already this weekend. Sunday is looking drier, so today’s positive work is still important. We will make sure we are well prepared tonight and then see what tomorrow brings.”

Lance Stroll

“It is good to be back on track. We have learned quite a bit today and I think there is more to come from me and the car. The forecast is suggesting that rain is going to be a factor tomorrow, which could change the course of the weekend. Obviously, it is a very different experience to drive in the wet and we have never experienced those sorts of conditions in Sochi before. That would be an exciting challenge and we will be prepared for the possibility tomorrow. We will go away and review what we have learned today and then see what the weather has in store for FP3 and qualifying.”

Haas F1

Round 15 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship began with practice on Friday at Sochi Autodrom as teams prepared for Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix.

Friday’s track action consisted of two 60-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 5.848-kilometer (3.634-mile), 18-turn circuit.

FP1 saw Mazepin straight out on track running the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires while Schumacher’s wake-up run utilized the White hard compound. A six-lap baseline outing on the Red soft rubber followed for both drivers – producing their fastest laps of the session. Mazepin recorded a 1:38.586 for 19th on the timesheet with Schumacher setting a 1:38.977 for 20th overall. The morning session concluded with high fuel stints – Mazepin returning to his earlier medium set with Schumacher back on the hard rubber.

Armed with soft tires to start FP2, Schumacher set his fastest time of the session on his opening run. The German banked a 1:36.230 which he failed to better on his second set of softs. Mazepin dropped from a 1:37.125 lap on his first set of softs down to a best lap of 1:36.099 on his second qualifying sim – the Russian placing 19th with Schumacher 20th. The session was interrupted by a red flag stop caused by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi contacting the barriers at Turn 10 – the Italian unharmed in the incident. FP2 resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock – Mazepin and Schumacher latterly working on high fuel distance runs through to the checkered flag.

Uralkali Haas F1 Team ran a total of 84 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 43 by Schumacher and 41 by Mazepin.

Nikita Mazepin

“I love Sochi and I think Sochi loves me because when we arrived here yesterday, I looked at the weather and it was saying it wasn’t going to be very good, but there is nothing like Sochi sun. Especially with that track, it’s fast and then it’s flowing, during the whole lap it’s very enjoyable to drive. I wasn’t quite sure what the car was going to feel like, given the balance can be different, but the balance was very similar to what it was like last year in Sochi and although we’re just missing overall downforce and lack pace, I think we’re close to extracting what we had to. We completed our run plan for today and let’s see what to expect tomorrow – I don’t think we’re going to get the sunshine like we had today.”

Mick Schumacher

“Overall, I felt quite comfortable. This track isn’t really driven over the year and that meant we had a very green track to start off with. I think in general we did some good things on the car, it felt comfortable early on, especially in FP2. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to finish my lap on the second set but we know that we have it in our pocket. Overall, it’s more about getting to know the car better on every track, especially here where I have good memories from F2, to convert that into a good run in F1 is positive. Now, it’s just a matter of putting everything together.”

Günther Steiner

“A pretty good day today with no big issues and both drivers and the team doing a good job over the two sessions. We went out early in FP2 to try and get a lap in, should there be an issue with qualifying tomorrow. Apparently, it will be raining, but we don’t know for sure, so we’ll deal with that one tomorrow. We made sure today to get a lap in and everybody else did, so we ended up where we normally end up but all in all, a good day at the office.”

Williams F1

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance

We have had a useful and productive day. Nicholas had some issues with his brakes this morning, but this was fixed for FP2. The car is working well here and although there is definitely some scope for improvement, we are happy with our start to the weekend.

Given the weather forecast for tomorrow, it is unclear quite how the weekend will play out. However, we are happy with the work that we have done so far, and we are ready to face any eventuality. Both drivers are comfortable with their cars and so even if we don’t get much done in FP3 due to the rain, we are happy to go straight into both qualifying and the race.

George Russell

It was an interesting day today. The car was feeling good, but the pace wasn’t quite as good as the car was feeling. We will go away and analyse why that was overnight. That positive feeling definitely helped us on the high-fuel pace though, and hopefully that will benefit us if it is dry on Sunday. Tomorrow looks like it could be a washout, but fingers crossed that we get some running in at some point. Our performance at Spa definitely gives us added confidence if it is a wet qualifying, but it is a very different style of track and different conditions here in Sochi so we will need to put in the hard work to achieve a good result. If it is going to be dry on Sunday, it will be interesting as the circuit will be very green after the rain and that will make it tricky, so it is not going to be a straightforward weekend.

Nicholas Latifi

Today was a fairly tricky day of running, but we made some good improvements from one session to the next which is important. I still feel that we have some things that we can analyse tonight to try and get the car in a better window, and I’ll be looking at the changes I can make to my driving style to find some more lap time. Whilst tomorrow’s weather conditions might mean that a lot of today’s running may not be so relevant, everyone will be in the same position and what we’ve learnt today becomes especially valuable if it’s drier on Sunday.

Ferrari

Today’s work in Sochi was useful in both the short and long term for Scuderia Ferrari. Over the two hours of free practice the drivers got through their programmes with no problems of any sort. It was a particularly busy day as Carlos and Charles had two separate work programmes. The former did the usual jobs of preparing for both qualifying and the race, while the latter focussed almost exclusively on the race, given that he is having to start from the back of the grid.

Trouble free debut. One of Charles’ tasks was to gain experience with the new hybrid system. He only used the Soft tyres in the first session, covering 22 laps with a best time of 1’35”117. In the afternoon, he tried all three Pirelli compounds, starting with the Soft, before moving on to the Hard and Medium, so as to evaluate them under similar track conditions. He did 24 laps in the afternoon, the best being a 1’34”925.

As normal. Sainz’s programme was more in line with that of the other drivers. He began the first session on Hard tyres, before switching to Softs in the second part of the session. He did 25 laps, the best in 1’35”811 in the morning and then 22 in the afternoon, with a best of 1’34”678 when running the Soft and Medium compounds. In tomorrow’s sessions, drivers and engineers will have to deal, not only with the threat of rain, but also the wind which occasionally caused the drivers a few problems today, as well as track evolution which improved lap after lap as the cars put rubber down on the surface.

Programme. The final hour of free practice takes place tomorrow at 12 local (11 CET) with qualifying following on at 15 (14 CET). The Russian Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday, again at 15 (14 CET).

Carlos Sainz

A positive Friday for us in general, mainly coming from a decent balance right from the beginning and the car performing a bit better on this kind of track. There’s still a lot of work to do on the long run side as it looks like there’s some graining on the front tyres. Hopefully we can find a way to work around it for tomorrow, although we are expecting rain and things can change quickly. We’ll see.

Charles Leclerc

We ran different programmes across our two cars today and my focus was on race simulation rather than on qualifying pace as I will start from the back of the grid on Sunday. The track evolution was quite significant over the course of the day. It started out being very slippery this morning and then improved with every run. Graining was not an issue, which was positive. In terms of driving experience, I enjoyed the last sector the most.

Mercedes F1

A strong Friday showing for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team as Valtteri and Lewis go quickest on practice day in Sochi

— Valtteri set the pace in both practice sessions, going fastest overall in FP1 and FP2
— Lewis was just behind his teammate on the timesheets with both drivers exploring a range of set-up options ahead of Qualifying tomorrow which is expected to be wet.

Valtteri Bottas

If you look at the timings and based on my own feeling in the car, it was a good day. From the first run, I had confidence in the car and the balance was very good so I could focus on my driving, looking for small gains. Tomorrow looks like it will be wet, so it’ll be a completely different experience. The main thing is the car feels good on the long runs so that’s encouraging for Sunday which should be dry. I really find my flow on this track and I enjoy it - when the car works well here, it’s great fun to drive.

Lewis Hamilton

We had two good sessions today pace-wise. We ticked off as much as we could working through different setup items and had very clean runs with no issues so overall it was a good day. Valtteri and I went quite different with our setups to see which areas work best and we’ll spend tonight studying the data to understand where we want the car for tomorrow and Sunday. It looks like it will be a lot of rain tomorrow, a big wet day, and we’ll have to consider our setup with that in mind but keeping an eye on Sunday which is set to be dry.

Andrew Shovlin

We had a pretty good balance to start with today and were able to put in decent times on all tyre compounds. We’ve often struggled on the Soft tyre this year but today it seemed to work well. Our long run performance was OK, but we’ve not got the balance quite right so there’s a bit of work to do there overnight. The forecast looks very wet for tomorrow, especially in the morning but we’re expecting dry conditions for the race. That’s going to give us an interesting compromise to deal with, finding a setup that works well in a wet qualifying but also has good long run pace in the dry. Overall though a reasonable start to the weekend.

McLaren

Lando Norris

“Today was a bit up and down – we struggled quite a bit in P1, but we made quite a few changes on the car for the second session which improved things. That progress has made me feel a bit more confident in the car this afternoon and given us a more positive feeling going into tomorrow.

“Some of our strengths from Monza aren’t as obvious at this track, and there’s more of the types of corners here where we’re not as strong. But it can still feel relatively good, it just doesn’t always translate into actual lap-time. We’re not as competitive as we were in Monza, but we still have a decent feeling and we can still be competitive compared to the teams we’re really racing against. There are a lot of things to take into account for tomorrow with the weather forecast, so there’s a lot to think about overnight to prepare ourselves for tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo

“This morning, we struggled quite a bit to get comfortable and there wasn’t that much pace. We made some changes with swapping the PU for FP2, but then we had a delay getting out, and then we had yellows, red flags and then people around us on high fuel. It was a bit of a lost session really, so we have some homework tonight. Fortunately, Lando looked more comfortable and quicker in FP2, so we’ll try to learn from that. For us, not the most inspiring day, but still a lot we can work on to improve ahead of qualifying.”

Andrea Stella - Executive Director, Racing

“Weather conditions in Sochi are unsettled this week. We had rain yesterday and there’s an expectation of rain tomorrow, but today the sessions were dry, and we could work through our dry run-plan. We focused our efforts on understanding the tyres and set-up, preparing the car for both single-lap performance and for the race, as usual. On Daniel’s side of the garage we had a little disruption, discovering an issue at the end of FP1. We swapped the PU over the break between P1 and P2, lost a little bit of running time and as a result were doing our new Soft run in P2 in difficult traffic conditions. That’s reflected in the classification – but we know there’s quite a lot more to come.”