FP1
Weather: Humid and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 29-31°C / 33-35°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:45.084 (14th)
L. Stroll, FW40-01, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:47.190 (17th)
Quickest time: D. Ricciardo 1:42.489
FP2
Weather: Humid and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 29-30°C / 33°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:43.836 (15th)
L. Stroll, FW40-01, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:44.301 (16th)
Quickest time: D. Ricciardo 1:40.852
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: Generally, we had a good day. We did most of the running we wanted to do apart from that Lance had a gearbox failure in FP1 which meant he only got running in the first forty minutes. It was a failure of a development part so no effect for the race, but unfortunately it lost him the track time which was a double blow because the focus for him today was to learn the circuit. It’s a track he’s not raced at and one that takes a lot of experience to understand how to optimise, simply from a driving point-of-view. On both sides of the garage we conducted some aerodynamic and systems tests, as well as our basic homework on tyres and different fuel levels. Our pace still needs some work, but we will do a lot of analysis overnight. I think we can extract more from the car. It’s going to be very tight in the midfield as usual, but I think if we can find two or three tenths, we can make a big difference.
Felipe Massa: Today was very difficult. We know that this isn’t really the best track for our car, so it was a very difficult Friday. Balance is not a big problem, the problem is just laptime. We’re a little bit too slow compared to the others. For sure, this is a problem I expected. To be honest, I’m sure qualifying is the main issue because we don’t have the right laptime to fight, but I hope that maybe in the race many things can happen to help us here, so we will try everything we can. If we can get points on Sunday, it will be a very good job.
Lance Stroll: It wasn’t the best day for the team. It was a tough Friday, especially for me with the gearbox problem in FP1 at a track I have never been to before, so that was not ideal. Then, in FP2 I had a virtual safety car on my best run, so that didn’t help either. Not the luckiest day and for sure we need to improve the car and try to make it better for tomorrow. However, I really enjoyed the track here. It is a lot of fun to drive, a bit bumpy but also very challenging. I knew the track was going to be tight and twisty so I was prepared for that, but it is one of the toughest tracks mentally and physically, and also because of the heat.
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