Daniel Ricciardo #3
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:44.950, pos. 13th, 23 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:43.823, pos. 14th, 21 laps

“It was nice to drive here today in dry conditions; they resurfaced part of the track, and a lot of corners have more grip which feels good. Today was a proper test day for us, we tried a lot of things, and I was happier in FP2 compared to this morning. We still need to find a few more tenths for tomorrow but it may rain, and if quali is the only wet session, we won’t have much time to figure it out and find the grip. This will be a challenge for all of us. Sunday looks dry though, so at least we are comfortable, given what we learned today.”

Yuki Tsunoda #22
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:45.564, pos. 16th, 23 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:44.348, pos. 20th, 24 laps

“We tried a few things today and know some areas we want to look at and improve tomorrow. I have a grid penalty on Sunday for taking new power unit elements, so it’ll be about maximising as much as possible this weekend. The track has a new surface in places which is nice and smooth, and I was able to find more grip. It’s a nice modification and we have a good opportunity to learn more tomorrow and find the most optimum set up. Usually, we perform quite well in the rain, and with the conditions looking mixed this weekend it throws another element into the mix.”

Alan Permane (Racing Director)

“A tough day on our side, we have Yuki starting from the back of the grid on Sunday due to his PU penalty, so he’s been focusing a little bit more on race preparation. We’ve got some work to do to find some more rear grip, so we’ll be working in the simulator overnight with several set-up items to test out, with a view to trying those on the car in FP3. On a positive note, Daniel’s long run pace was not only quick, but had very low degradation. We have much more confidence in our long run pace than our short run pace and we’ll be aiming to improve that for tomorrow.”