Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: We have had a very disrupted day, with the red flags costing us some valuable track time. Logan did a very good job this morning in difficult conditions and between him and Nicholas, they were able to evaluate some of the cooling options that we will need this weekend.
Alex was late starting FP2 following an issue with setting the PU cooling system and this meant that he was only able to complete a single timed lap before moving on to the Pirelli tyre testing. Whilst this was frustrating and not ideal preparation for his weekend, he was able to complete the high fuel running and understand what the car limitations will be on Sunday. With the race car preparation complete, both drivers can concentrate on qualifying preparation during FP3 tomorrow. There is a bit of work to do to tune the car for low fuel, but following some analysis tonight, this will be achievable tomorrow morning.
Alex Albon: We did one lap today on the tyres we’re using this weekend so not a very productive day. We’ve got the cooling and the race package ready for the weekend so that’s a positive in terms of getting up to speed. We’re a bit off but that’s expected when considering the one representative lap, so it’s a bit frustrating in some ways but we’ve got a good platform and baseline to work on for tomorrow.
Nicholas Latifi: Overall today was an okay start to the weekend. It was a little bit disrupted with many yellow and red flags and FP2 having the tyre test which was unrepresentative. A decent Friday to learn about the baseline of the car. There are definitely some clear directions to go into tomorrow to find more lap time.
Logan Sargeant: I was definitely a lot more comfortable coming into today. Everything slowed down a lot and it was easier to build a rhythm and learn the track. All in all, it was a good step forward and good progress from last weekend.
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