F1Weekly podcast # 608
UNITED STATES GP – FRIDAY PRACTICE VETTEL ON TOP!
Car 1, Sebastian Vettel
“It was slippery this morning and a bit like driving on ice. It wasn’t so easy, but we managed to get into a rhythm. We had a bit of a problem this afternoon and so couldn’t run as much as we wanted, but we got two good runs which is important for tomorrow and Sunday. I think there were a couple of surprises today in terms of pace, so we’ll see tomorrow. The track will constantly improve – it’s good that we are amongst the guys at the top, now we’ll try to improve the car to make sure we stay there.”
Car 2, Mark Webber
“It’s a pretty good track, it’s quick, especially the first sector which is quite full on, although sectors two and three are more traditional and similar to other tracks. It was very slippery to start with, which was quite frustrating probably for all of us, but in the end the track rubbered in pretty well and we got into a good rhythm. As with all new circuits, you’ve got to work out where you can prioritise your time and where to compromise. It’s got a bit of everything really, so it’s good.”
Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
FP1: P7 1:41.023 29 laps
FP2: P17 1:40.700 34 laps
Nico: “I think the organisers have given us an awesome circuit. It’s good fun to drive and there is a nice variation of corners, which gives a nice rhythm to the track. In terms of the new generation of tracks, I’d say it’s one of my favourites. The day was pretty smooth and we had to make sure we collected lots of data because we don’t have any historic information to draw upon. We looked competitive this morning and seemed to struggle more in the afternoon, so we need to try and find some more grip overnight.”
Paul Di Resta (VJM05/04)
FP1: P11 1:41.783 29 laps
FP2: P18 1:41.430 35 laps
Paul: “I said yesterday that getting the tyres working was going to be difficult – and so it proved today. The track surface is very smooth and the temperatures were not especially high, which probably didn’t help us. We’ve identified some issues and haven’t found the best direction with the set-up yet, so we need to work hard to make the car easier to drive. In terms of the layout of the track it’s very open and there are some nice corners, especially the first sector which has a great flow. A lot of the corners are off-camber, which also adds another challenge.”
Heikki Kovalainen, car 20, chassis CT01-#3: “The first lap we did in FP1 was on a track that probably had less grip than anywhere else I’ve ever driven! As we’re at a new circuit that was to be expected but the track layout lived up to expectations – it’s a proper driver’s track and as it keeps evolving it’s going to get even faster which will give us a chance to really find out what it’s all about.“In the morning session we were mainly focussed on the normal P1 program, running through baseline setups and aero work and then in the afternoon we went onto more tyre work and longer runs on both compounds. We need to work on improving the grip levels but I’m ok with where we ended up and with the amount of information we have from both sessions I think we can find more time tomorrow.”Vitaly Petrov, car 21, chassis CT01-#2: “I’m really enjoying my time in the US! It’s my first time in America and as soon as I arrived I spent some time walking around Austin and found it’s a great city, really cool.“In P1 We had to make a couple of minor changes to the floor but it didn’t hold up the program too much and we found an OK balance relatively early on. In the afternoon we had the first runs on the medium tyres and then put in a lot of laps on the long runs. We definitely need to do some work on how we can get more heat into the tyres and how to improve the rear of the car but we’ll work on that tonight and hopefully have a better day tomorrow.”
Bruno Senna: The track is really challenging so it was great to gets lots of running in today. It’s very fast and flowing, and also a bit slippery at the moment but the grip is coming. It was a tough session as there is a lot to get used to with the car and the tyres. We need to keep pushing to try to understand the car better and improve to make sure we are in the points this weekend.
Pastor Maldonado: The circuit is really nice and it was fun to drive. It was very slippery, particularly this morning on the hard tyres, but it’s the same for everybody. We struggled a bit today with the car which we need to look at tonight in order to be ready for tomorrow.
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/mp3.f1weekly.com/podcasts/11-16-12f1weekly608.mp3]