FP1
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 30-32°C / 36-37°C
F Massa, FW38-02, PU106C Hybrid, 1:48.044 (9th)
V Bottas, FW38-03, PU106C Hybrid, 1:48.453 (14th)
Quickest time: M. Verstappen 1:45.823
FP2
Weather: Warm and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 29-30°C / 32-34°C
F Massa, FW38-02, PU106C Hybrid, 1:46.856 (14th)
V Bottas, FW38-03, PU106C Hybrid, 1:46.960 (15th)
Quickest time: N. Rosberg 1:44.152
Objectives: Aero evaluations, set-up and tyre work.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It was a fairly normal Friday for us and we didn’t have any big issues. We tested different suspension settings and geometries this afternoon. We also tested some aero upgrades and they seem to have worked well, so that’s a boost for this stage of the season. But, apart from that, it was just about trying to get the tyres ready for the first timed lap and trying to make them last for the longer runs. This is a low-speed street circuit so that first timed lap is really tricky and that’s what we need to work on. Looking at our high-fuel pace, I would say it’s reasonable for a circuit like this, so the low fuel pace will definitely be our priority tonight to ensure we understand the set-up of the car and the tyre management for optimising the first timed lap.
Felipe Massa: It’s always tricky to understand Friday in Singapore. You always need to work hard to understand the tyres here. We have a lot to do to improve the car for the short runs, especially with the new tyres. The long run had a better feeling, I think we were quite competitive but we don’t know the fuel of any other cars. It’s difficult to overtake here, so for both tomorrow and for the race the most important thing now is for us to have a better understanding of the tyres.
Valtteri Bottas: It was a tricky day today. We really struggled with the car balance all day and we didn’t finish today happy with it. We’ve been doing different kinds of tests and set-up changes to try and get the car to work well, but it’s been difficult.
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