Practice: Toro Rosso, Haas, Sauber

Editor

Daniil Kvyat was back in Toro Rosso colours after a spell on the sidelines with Brendon Hartley making his debut for the team. Haas and Sauber struggle at the back.

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat: "I think it was a productive FP2. We were able to use plenty of the track time available and started the weekend on the right foot. We didn't have the full day to correct the balance and issues we had, so we will now look at all of that overnight and see where we can make some progress. We're not too far away of the guys ahead and we will aim to make a good improvement in order to be in that mix."

Brendon Hartley: "A steep learning curve today! It all went pretty smoothly and I kept the car on track without making too many mistakes, so I'm quite happy. I didn't really know what to expect from today because I just had so much to learn! I think I made quite a big progression throughout the day. The biggest difference from what I'm used to is the high-speed grip, it's incredible here in Formula 1…it was quite an eye-opener! Another challenge are the tyres, which are also quite different to what I'm used to. On the other hand, the long-run looks quite positive and I did a good job managing the tyres there – the biggest thing I need to work on now is the new tyre pace, and I'll get another crack at it tomorrow morning before qualifying. All in all, I'd say it's all coming together. We'll now work hard and go through plenty of data tonight and hopefully I'll make another step forward tomorrow."

Haas

Kevin Magnussen:  “It was a little bit inconclusive, but I wouldn’t say it’s been a bad day. It’s always good to go out and have a feel for the conditions on the inters, which we did this morning, and to see where the puddles are on track. We had a few technical issues on the car that we needed to sort – just little things – but the car feels OK. The balance doesn’t feel bad, and that’s the main thing. We have some stuff to work on for tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Romain Grosjean: “We didn’t get the best of everything we could. We had a problem with the ultrasoft in the afternoon, so on the timesheet we are very far away. Even so, we haven’t got the sweet spot of the car. We just need to work on that. I think it’s just related to how we use the tires. We know this is something where we’re not always bang on. We need to find out where to put that. After that, I’m not too worried that the car’s going to come back to its level. It’s just getting the grip better with the compounds.”

Sauber

Pascal Wehrlein: “I am quite satisfied with the practice session considering that I did not drive in the morning. In FP2, my objective was to complete as many laps as possible. The car felt ok in terms of the balance. Regarding the lap times, the gap to our direct competitors was not too big either. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Marcus Ericsson: “It is always great to drive on this circuit; I really enjoy it. In FP1 we worked through our programme focusing on mechanical and aerodynamic tests. In the afternoon, I lost some time towards the end of FP2 due to a car issue. We are now looking into our data and working on making improvements for tomorrow’s qualifying.”