Not the best of Friday’s, unfortunately. We’ve had quite a tough day and we struggled a bit with the balance in FP1. We tried to correct this and it actually got better for this afternoon’s FP2, but I’m still not completely happy. Also, the resurfaced track makes it feel like a completely new circuit and creates new challenges for us. We now need to work hard tonight, analyse the data and see where we went wrong today so that we can be stronger tomorrow. The midfield looks so tight that a small improvement can put you directly back in the fight and that’s where we aim to be.

There were a few ups and downs today, but in general I’d say we got enough information to work with and get ready for tomorrow. We have a few things to improve but tonight we will look carefully at everything and see where we can progress. The fact that the track’s surface is new has also changed a few things compared to last year, so this is something we will also look into tonight in order to understand this circuit better.

This has been a very trying day for us. Especially in the short runs we have not had very happy drivers. Sector 1 is our relatively weakest sector but a generally awkward balance in the last 3 corners, front-lock and straight-line speed were the most repeated issues. We have some obvious areas to look into tonight and will do our best homework to come back better tomorrow. Unfortunately, the long runs were also not a great representation of what we are capable of, with Daniil struggling with some graining. On the positive side, Daniil was a bit stronger on the soft long run, so there is a glimmer that we will be able to get the car where we need it, given we can put the tyres and balance in a happy window. It’s a pity that Carlos had an energy recovery issue mid-way through the long runs, which caused him to have to bring the car to stop at turn 1. Let’s work for a more positive day tomorrow.