Feature

Team Talk - Friday in Japan

Catch up with what all the teams had to say following Friday practice for the 17th race of the 2016 season - the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel
“Overall, I am not entirely happy with the balance of the car today, but I am sure this is something we can work on. I didn’t try the Medium compound, we focused more on the Soft tyre in the morning, and on the very Hard tyre in the afternoon. We tried to do our homework, but the balance is not there yet. We will now need to look at the data and see where we are, also compared to the others. Ideally you would always love to have more grip around here, because it feels fantastic if you do, but I am sure we can tune the balance and distribute the grip a bit better, so that we will be in a better shape tomorrow. As for race expectations, a podium finish is always possible, there might even be rain at some point. It sure doesn’t help if you start further at the back (because of the grid penalty), but overtaking is possible, even if it is not so easy.”

Kimi Raikkonen
“It was one of those days that seem a bit tricky but in the end go for better. My feeling with the car was not very nice, I suffered a lot with understeer and I was struggling with the balance through the first sector, but the lap time was ok . In the end we got a bit better, but we are not still where we want to be. In the second session I had a small electric issue, likely with a sensor, but we changed it and it was ok. Tomorrow is another day, we’ll try to work on small things to try to improve. If we get the car where we want and with a better feeling for sure we can go quite a bit faster.”

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

‘That was on me’ – Perez owns up to Shanghai tangle with Bottas

Last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix was barely a few corners old before the black-and-white Cadillacs…

5 hours ago

Leclerc defies peers, defends F1 new era: ‘It doesn’t feel artificial’

The 2026 Formula 1 season has touched down with the subtlety of a localized earthquake,…

6 hours ago

Norris: McLaren ‘not at level we need’ but confident of turnaround

Lando Norris was denied the chance to race in Shanghai, but the reigning world champion…

8 hours ago

A picture-perfect St. Patrick's Day!

Bring out your green, for it's St. Patrick's Day, which is the perfect excuse for…

9 hours ago

Wolff's Mercedes heritage flight for past and present stars

Once a Mercedes driver, always a Mercedes driver – and apparently always welcome aboard Toto…

10 hours ago

Very happy Gasly says Alpine now ‘in a completely different league’

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly walked away from last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix with a smile –…

11 hours ago