We had a lot of test items to try on the car today on top of the usual preparations for the weekend. First practice was not very representative of the conditions we will experience in qualifying and the race, but what we saw during second practice makes me feel optimistic. The balance of the car is where I need it and the long run pace is competitive. There is still a little bit of work to do, but we’re starting from a good baseline and if we can improve overnight we should be in a good position tomorrow.

It’s fantastic to come here and drive under the lights again. I’m feeling pretty happy with my session in the car this evening. The performance is solid and the car feels good, but there is still room for improvement. If we do our homework well tonight I think we have the speed to be up in our usual position tomorrow.

Another very enjoyable experience working with this team. It’s always nice to have the opportunity to be in the car because your confidence improves with every run and you get more and more comfortable with the car. Today’s session was an important part of the team’s preparations for next year with some different specification parts being tried on my car. It was not about lap times but simply collecting the data and giving accurate feedback to the team.

Once again we spent a big part of today’s practice sessions preparing for 2018 with a high volume of test items to evaluate. George ran a different spec car this morning to give us some aero data and did a great job with very accurate feedback. We adjusted Esteban’s programme to help him get up to speed quickly and he’s feeling comfortable with the car already. Sergio’s saw to his busy programme efficiently, and he’s happy with the car balance too. What we saw today is that the midfield pack is very tight once again, so we need to work hard tonight to extract even more performance to be in good shape for qualifying.