Practice quotes: Haas, Force India, McLaren, Sauber
Romain Grosjean had an unfortunate incident with a marmot before finishing P7 in FP2 – best of the rest.
Haas
Romain Grosjean: “It’s been a pretty good day. We had FP1 and we learned quite a bit about the new upgrade, then in FP2 the car behaved nicely. We tried all three different (tire) compounds between the two cars – there’s some more work to do, but it’s been encouraging. The new aero package does suit me pretty well. It’s an amazing circuit. I really like the feeling I get here. It’s not easy to find a balance, and the racing line is always changing. The grip is coming up during the weekend, but I really always enjoy driving here. Then at the end, unfortunately, an animal decided to cross the straight line. I did follow the advice – I didn’t steer to avoid it but, unfortunately, we had contact. It was high speed. I couldn’t do anything to avoid it.”
Kevin Magnussen: “I had an okay day. I think FP1 was a bit difficult. We didn’t quite understand the tires. It improved a little bit in FP2. We’re still learning, and we still need to analyze more for tomorrow. We’ll find some answers tonight about the tires. The tires are the big subject here in Montreal. I think if we can find some answers with that and get a clear picture of what temperatures we need and how it laps – that’s going to be the most important thing.”
Force India
Esteban Ocon: “I feel satisfied with today. They were not easy sessions because the track was so dirty and it was easy to make mistakes, but we managed to stay out of trouble. There was massive track evolution as well, which makes it difficult to understand the tyres. We just need to wait and see where we are tomorrow but Q3 definitely looks realistic. We need to keep working, keep pushing and see where we end up tomorrow.”
Sergio Perez: “I’m happy with the feeling of the car. I got up-to-speed quickly this afternoon and it feels like we have good potential for the weekend. I think there is more speed to come, which hopefully we will find tonight to be ready for qualifying. The track was changing a lot during the session and it should keep improving tomorrow as well. The long run pace was strong and I think we can have a competitive weekend.”
McLaren
Fernando Alonso: “It felt quite positive today. The car felt good straight away from FP1, and then we concentrated a little bit more on long runs and set-up in FP2, and I think we’re happy. The car seems competitive here, now we need to deliver the result tomorrow in qualifying. On this circuit, you need to prioritise race pace, because you can overtake here so you need to be strong on Sunday. It’s not worth putting all your efforts in on Saturday because there are no points in qualifying, but I think Q3 is possible tomorrow. We didn’t have any big issues with the balance – we hardly touched the set-up, we just did some aero tests with the new parts we brought out here and we will now sit down, analyse the data and optimise the car for tomorrow. I tested the Hypersoft only in FP1 and it’s difficult to say how it really is, but maybe it’s a little bit better than expected, as the graining so far is not too bad. It’s definitely the quickest tyre over one lap. The race will be interesting with some people going for one stop and some for two using the Hypersoft, and that opens a window to creativity, so let’s see if we can optimise that.”
Stoffel Vandoorne: “It’s actually been a reasonable day today. I had an unfortunate touch with the wall in FP2 which cut our day a little bit short, but in general it’s been a positive day. We were quite competitive in FP1, and in FP2 we were looking pretty good as well. We didn’t really run the Hypersoft in FP2. Looking at all that, I think it’s been a good day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The balance was a bit up and down for me as we tried a lot across both cars today, which was very good learning from the new bits we have here. Tomorrow we’ll put everything in the right spec and I feel confident we’ll be in good shape. This track is always a bit of a compromise: there are a lot of straight lines and a lot of tight chicanes, and you really need to be able to position the car well. There’s always a balance to strike with the set-up, and we have to see what the best is for the race. When I hit the wall it wasn’t because anything was out of control, I was just a little bit too ambitious. I clipped the wall and unfortunately it caused a puncture. Despite that, the feeling today in the car was positive and we did some decent laps.”
Sauber
Charles Leclerc: “It was a positive day overall. As it is my first time driving on this circuit, it took me a few laps to get into the rhythm of it. By the time we headed out for FP2 I felt confident on the track and in the car, and P11 is quite a good result for the first day. We will work on making further improvements, and hopefully we can get a similar result tomorrow.”
Marcus Ericsson: “It was a good Friday for us. We completed the planned programme and tried out all of the different tyre compounds between our two cars. Our pace is quite competitive at the moment, and we will be building on that tomorrow. It is fun to be back in Montreal, and I really enjoy driving on this track. Being close to the midfield today means that I can look forward to the rest of the weekend with confidence.”
