Spanish Grand Prix 2021 – Practice

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: The track grip was quite low in FP1 and it was difficult to learn very much about the car. Roy did a good job once again and collected some useful data for us on one of our test parts. He also gave us a clear indication of the early balance weaknesses of the FW43B at this circuit. Nicholas had a steady FP1 session and although he struggled with rear grip in the high-speed corners, he still had a productive morning.

George took a little time to get up to speed in FP2, and there is still more to come from him tomorrow. Nicholas made good progress this afternoon but as a team we are struggling at this circuit and we have a lot to look through tonight.

George Russell: It’s always tricky missing FP1 and having half the running, but it was great to get back out in the car after a difficult weekend in Portugal. In terms of the circuit, the new corner at Turn 10 is a nicer corner than the previous one and is fun to drive. We look a little further away on the low fuel pace compared to where we usually are, but our high fuel pace seems relatively decent. Barcelona can be difficult with high tyre degradation and history has shown that we tend to struggle here, so Sunday will be interesting.

Nicholas Latifi: It was a tricky Friday. Straight away in FP1 the track conditions were not very good with low grip out there. We made some improvements from one session to the next, but I still feel there is scope to improve the basic set-up of the car. We have still got some work to do and were more focused on the high fuel race pace, as that was not particularly competitive in Portugal. We are not where we want to be, but we will do some work tonight and see where we can improve.

Roy Nissany: Today was beautiful, the sun was shining and I was back on the track. It felt great to jump in the car having spent a lot of time, and driven many kilometres, in the simulator. I enjoyed every second and every metre of it and I think the result reflects that. It was a productive day, good to be back and I am looking forward to the next outing.