Objectives: Aero evaluations, set-up and tyre work
Valtteri Bottas: FP1: 1:28.148 (12th) FP2: 1:26.758 (5th)
Felipe Massa: FP1: 1:28.150 (13th) FP2: 1:26.935 (9th)
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We completed all the work we had planned, plus a bit extra so I am happy with the day. We have some key data from the aero work and the tyre management was good. Our long runs look competitive and both sets of tyres were manageable. We have to do a lot of work together now to prepare for tomorrow, but it’s encouraging to get off to a positive start today.
Valtteri Bottas: We tested the new aero package today which works well. With the low downforce the car does slide a bit more, but it’s manageable. I am really pleased with the long run pace, but think there is a little more to get from it. Qualifying is going to be tight tomorrow, so we are all ready to work hard tonight and find all the gains we can.
Felipe Massa: The day was ok; we have a lot of work to do overnight and some more tomorrow. We can still make improvements and move further up to be a strong challenger to the teams at the top. We have worked hard throughout the day and completed our programme, so tomorrow we will be able to compare our pace to everyone else’s.
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