Fri: Toro Rosso, McLaren, Manor

Toro Rosso joined McLaren and Manor at the bottom of the Interlagos timesheets in Friday’s second practice…

Toro Rosso:
Max Verstappen: “Today was maybe not the best of days, but in general it was okay. I like it here and I enjoy driving this track. We still need to find some time, but we did a lot of running, which was important to achieve. It will be a very challenging race on Sunday, that’s for sure, because it’s very hard for the tyres here.”

Carlos Sainz Jr: “I think we had a good first day in Brazil. We managed to complete plenty of laps, which was the main target for today as this is a new track for me. I must say that I really enjoyed it a lot out there, it’s an interesting circuit! We were able to complete all of our programme without any issues. The only little inconvenient in the whole day was that our run on Option tyres in FP2 was spoiled because of the red flag. A bit of fine-tuning needs to be made for tomorrow, but overall I’m happy with today.”

McLaren:
Jenson Button: “On Fridays I don’t tend to look at the times so much – it’s more about the feel. So, well, there’s quite a bit of work for us to do. There was quite a lot of grip out there, but we couldn’t make use of it all; and we’re struggling a bit with overall balance, too. Having said that, I’m sure it’s more or less the same for everyone, especially with the high tyre pressures we have to run around here. Doing that makes it difficult to make proper valid comparisons, in fact. So things aren’t perfect, but, hopefully, helped by some good work in some long meetings tonight, we can find a better balance. Going forward, I gather there’s a chance that it will rain – and hopefully it will, because rain would give us a better opportunity to do better on Saturday and Sunday.”

Fernando Alonso: “My second session today was cut short because of a power unit problem, so tomorrow I have still quite a bit of work to do to get ready for quali and the race, including testing the Option tyres. The problem with the power unit I had in FP2 today means I’ll have to have it replaced, and fit the one I used in Mexico, which obviously has rather a low mileage. But I’m not frustrated, actually. In fact in some ways I hope I can get as many problems over and done with here, and again in Abu Dhabi, and then have zero problems next year. It’s a learning process, and sometimes it’s a bit annoying, but, really, it’s trial and error, and that’s the only way to succeed. We’re learning all the time; that’s the main thing.”

Manor GP:
Will Stevens: “Today has been a productive day and it was the first time in a while that we have managed to complete good runs for qualifying and for the race during the Friday programme. I’m pretty happy with how the car is working here. I think the race is going to be tricky with rear tyre degradation, so I’ve worked hard to try and maximise the car for Sunday. I am enjoying the circuit here and hoping for a good weekend.”

Alexander Rossi: “Today was pretty challenging in terms of getting to grips with the car balance and managing our tyres, so we definitely have some work to do overnight. Despite this we were able to complete a solid run plan and we are confident that we can make the necessary improvements leading into FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow.”