FP1
Weather: Hot and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 33 – 37°C / 26 – 30°C
Valtteri Bottas: FW37-03, PU106B Hybrid: 1:38.390 (3rd)
Felipe Massa: FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid: 1:38.790 (10th)
Quickest Time: K. Raikkonen (1:37.827)
FP2
Weather: Hot and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 26 – 30°C / 32 – 36°C
Valtteri Bottas: FW37-03, PU106B Hybrid: 1:35.280 (5th)
Felipe Massa: FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid: 1:35.884 (10th)
Quickest Time: N. Rosberg (1:34.647)
Objectives: Set-up work, aero evaluations and tyre work
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It has been a really good day for the team. We had a lot of work to get done over the last couple of days and have hit every target that we set ourselves. There is an awful lot of data that we collected with regards to specification and management of tyres. We are where we expect to be on a Friday with regards to both high and low fuel runs, which is encouraging for qualifying and the race. The team has worked very well and to get through the arduous programme we had set was impressive. We used the conditions to our advantage and gathered data during FP1 as the track temperatures were hotter than we will experience in the race. We used this data and then focused on tyre and car performance in FP2.
Valtteri Bottas: It has been a good Friday. The car feels good but it’s only Friday so it is hard to compare us against our competitors. We are still focusing on tyre performance in a race situation and have made progress, especially with the option tyre, although I think there is a bit more performance to find. We look quite strong for qualifying, but the race pace is important and we need to work hard tonight on this area.
Felipe Massa: I struggled with the balance of the car today but the team have shown there is good pace. We need to work hard tonight and make the right changes to get the car balance right, and then show the pace that Valtteri has shown today. We have also been working on tyre performance and have certainly made steps in the right direction.
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