Fri: BMW, Honda, Force India

Friday 10th October 2008

Neither BMW, Honda nor Force India managed to get a driver into the top ten in Friday's Japanese GP practice.

BMW
Robert Kubica: It was a normal Friday. We did some set-up work in the morning, and concentrated on the tyre evaluation in the afternoon. I really enjoyed driving on this track, as it's demanding and fun at the same time. The balance of the car is quite okay, but we are lacking overall grip."

Nick Heidfeld: My first day of practice didn't go too smoothly this time. I'm not happy with the balance of the car yet, it is sliding too much. Because of this in the first session I spun once, which seldom happens to me. Also, which is exceptional for us, in the second session I had minor technical problems. First the brake balance adjuster in the cockpit came loose, and shortly before the end of the session we had a hydraulic alarm and I came into the pit. There were only three minutes left, so it wasn't worth going out again. However, I didn't really loose track time and it's only Friday. I'm totally confident we shall improve for tomorrow."

Honda
Rubens Barrichello: Just like last year, we have had a dry first day of practice and by the end of the afternoon we were able to achieve a reasonable balance with the car on new tyres. The weather forecast for the weekend looks interesting so we need to take a close look at that. However if it stays dry, then I believe we have a chance to progress to the second qualifying session."

Jenson Button: We were able to make progress on the balance of the car on older tyres by the end of the afternoon session, however achieving a good balance was our main problem throughout the day. On new tyres at the end of the second session, I just had very little grip and it felt like the tyres were graining immediately. We will have to look at the reasons for this ahead of qualifying tomorrow."

Force India
Adrian Sutil: It's been a good day as the car worked well with no problems. The last run in the afternoon was not great as I had some traffic on my quick lap and couldn't improve my time, but at least there is more potential for tomorrow. It's always an advantage if you know the circuit well and I just feel good here. I was quick here last year so I think it's one of my good tracks. I'm looking forward to tomorrow now."

Giancarlo Fisichella: It was quite a difficult day for me, especially this morning. In the afternoon when we were working on the longer runs we made a step forward with the balance, but we still struggled with oversteer and getting the tyres to work well. We still have a lot to do here, but I'm hopeful we can improve here tomorrow."