Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz: “It’s been a bit of a tricky first day here in Mexico, the track was very slippery. In the morning we struggled a bit with brake temperatures, which didn’t allow me to push as much as I wanted in FP1. The good news is that it was better during this afternoon’s FP2 and I was therefore able to learn the track, step by step. We have a big of margin of improvement in terms of the car balance, as I wasn’t very comfortable today compared to the rest of the season. There’s a bit of homework to do tonight and it’s definitely going to be a challenging weekend but I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”
Max Verstappen: “It was a new experience for everyone today, as this is the first time we drive here, so at the start the conditions were quite tricky, but I think we built it up in a good way and had a very good FP1. To end the session in P1 is nice of course, and it means that the car is working well and I enjoy driving here. Unfortunately, during my first push-lap in FP2 I suddenly lost the rear and crashed in the last corner – I think it’s maybe just a combination of cold tyres and the track still being a bit damp. I think I overestimated the grip… It’s a bit of a shame that there isn’t more of a run-off at that corner! Tonight we have time to focus on all the data from Carlos’ FP2 to prepare ourselves for tomorrow.”
Phil Charles (Chief Race Engineer): “We are pleased with this morning’s FP1 – we targeted keeping the drivers on track to maximise their familiarisation with this new circuit and this approach was working quite well. In fact Max did a very good lap towards the end of the session and was looking very good. Unfortunately, in FP2 he had an off at the start of the session. The car is not too badly damaged and I am sure he will be back on form tomorrow. As a result of Max’s off it was necessary for Carlos to take up the extra workload in our programmes. So he did plenty of mileage again in FP2; we were prompt getting him out on the short runs and he completed plenty of laps on the long run. We’ve learned quite a lot today, but I think it is no secret that brakes and engine cooling are more difficult here with the low ambient pressures. The factory gave us some good support between the sessions to help in both respects but we will still have to do some further work with our car configuration tonight to ensure we have a margin for Sunday’s race. The weather forecasts are also looking quite interesting for the rest of the weekend, with possible rain. Overall, it’s has been a bit of a scrappy day but we’ve ticked-off a lot of the boxes in our program targets.”
Eric Silbermann's Mexican grumpy preview
Technical analysis: United States
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