Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat
“The run programme today was a bit compressed but, nevertheless, we were able to complete most of it, even though I wasn’t able to do as many laps as I would’ve liked to. At least the ones we did were good, even though not everything is clear as conditions were very tricky – it was very easy to make a mistake out there today and we will just try and put it all together tomorrow and see where we are. I don’t think we’re in a bad situation but we need to keep going forward… Tomorrow is a new day!”
Carlos Sainz
“Not the easiest of days. In this morning’s FP1 we had a few issues with the balance of the car and we weren’t able to get it right straight away. This meant that we had to do some changes before FP2 and in this afternoon’s session I felt a lot more comfortable with the car. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to exploit this improvement because of all the traffic or yellow flags… I think I did about 15 laps on the supersoft but didn’t manage to push during any of them! At least everyone else has been in this same situation, so it’s very difficult to judge where we are. I expect us to improve as soon as we put a lap together on the supersoft tyres tomorrow.”
Jody Egginton (Head of Vehicle Performance)
“Both cars had a big test program for FP1and, as such, we dedicated the first 40 minutes to covering a number of specific items. With this completed, the cars were then configured for baseline runs on the supersoft compound. However, with a red flag disrupting the session, we were not able to get a complete read on the baseline set-ups of both cars. Nevertheless, the laps we completed did allow for some quantified set-up changes to be made over the break. Car performance in FP2 was a step in the right direction for both drivers and baseline runs on both the soft and supersoft compounds provided good information regarding set-up direction, especially regarding tyres. With a massive number of yellow flags in the session, Carlos was not able to complete a clean lap on his new supersoft tyre, whilst Daniil did manage a clean lap, so we did gather the necessary data. Both cars moved to long runs but, again with yellow flags causing further disruption, it was not easy to get into a rhythm for both drivers. Overall car balance is okey and, although there is some work to do overnight in order to take the next step for FP3, we are looking forward to the rest of the weekend’s challenges.”
Red Bull
MAX VERSTAPPEN
“The whole day has been really positive, except the last lap, everything has been working well. From lap one I felt comfortable in the car, it was handling really well and I was confident with the setup. I think the preparation we did at the factory and in the simulator has allowed us to come here with a strong setup and competitive car from the go. This has definitely been the most positive Friday of the year so far. In the second session I felt I couldn’t get the maximum out of the short run pace due to yellow flags and traffic so we can be very happy to still finish P1. It feels like the cars are quicker through the corners this year, this means if you have a lock up in can be more critical. We are confident heading into Qualifying but also wary that Mercedes will turn their engines up a bit. We are on top at the end of Friday which means they have to catch up so it will be exciting in the session tomorrow. At the end I locked up at turn 1, I could see I wasn’t going to make the corner so decided to take the run off, as I turned right I lost the rear and ended up sliding into the wall.”
DANIEL RICCIARDO
“It’s been a good day for myself and Max and great that we were in the top three in both sessions. Even though I was second fastest this morning I wasn’t fully content with my session and I knew there was still room to improve in myself and the car. I believe we made those improvements this afternoon and I’m generally a lot happier with where we ended the day. This afternoon was a lot more entertaining, the grip was coming and you could really start to push the car. There’s not much room for error and it’s a pretty high risk circuit in terms of mistakes but that makes it really challenging and rewarding. When you are able to put in a good lap you cross the finish line and smile. Like always, we should not celebrate on a Friday but we are in the ball park, so hopefully tomorrow we can stay at the front.”
Haas F1
The eighth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan as teams prepared for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sunday.
The two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn track were dramatically different. FP1 was relatively trouble-free for the 20 drivers taking part while FP2 featured numerous shunts with the tight walls, particularly at turn eight. Thankfully, Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen emerged unscathed from both sessions.
Magnussen logged 23 laps in FP1 with his best time coming on his 19th lap – a 1:46.721 earned on a set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires that placed him 12th overall. Grosjean followed just behind his teammate with the 13th-fastest time – a 1:46.837 secured on the 15th of his 22 laps, also earned on Yellow softs. Both drivers started with a solitary installation lap on the White medium tire before switching to Yellow softs for the remainder of the session.
Leading the way in FP1 was Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, whose fast lap of 1:44.410 was .470 of a second better than the next quickest driver, teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
As drivers and teams refined their car’s setups, times dropped in FP2. But with increased speeds came increased demands on cars’ brake systems. Nowhere was this more evident than with Grosjean, who struggled with his brake balance throughout FP2. It all conspired to leave Grosjean 20th on the time sheet with 22 laps completed. His best lap was a 1:47.722 earned on his fourth tour using Yellow soft tires.
Magnussen, meanwhile, knocked down 33 laps in a productive session that placed him 14th overall. His best time was a 1:45.831, coming on his 13th lap while shod on Red supersoft tires.
Verstappen was again atop FP2 with a quick time of 1:43.362 that was .100 of a second better than next best Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes. However, FP2 came to an end when Verstappen spun into the barriers in turn one in the waning minutes.
Unlike past Friday practice sessions at previous grands prix this season where track records have fallen, the Baku City Circuit track record of 1:42.520 set by Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes during the second round of qualifying for last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix stood. That is because the lower-downforce cars of the previous era produced significant straight-line speed and the higher-downforce cars of today aren’t as quick in a straight line. Baku City Circuit has two enormous straights – a 2.2-kilometer (1.367-mile) mainstraight along the promenade and a 1-kilometer (.621-mile) stretch that takes drivers away from Azadliq Square. Despite the current-generation car being much faster in the corners, it hasn’t been enough to balance the loss of straight-line speed, at least not yet.
Between the two sessions, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 100 laps – 56 by Magnussen and 44 by Grosjean.
Romain Grosjean
“A frustrating afternoon – the feeling just wasn’t there. There’s not really much I can say, to be honest. I just had no feeling in the car. That’s obviously something that we need to look at a lot more depth as we’ve effectively lost a session heading into Saturday. Lots of work to do but, hopefully, we can focus and identify the issues and put it right.”
Kevin Magnussen
“It wasn’t too bad today. I think we had a decent day. There’s a lot to look at. This track is pretty special and unique, so we’ll see if we can improve the car for tomorrow. It’s a very fun track to drive. There’s a lot to take in and you’re finding a lot of speed every lap. It’s good to be able to do laps without too many problems on the car. I’m happy with the day.”
Gunther Steiner
“We had a good morning session, but in the afternoon we struggled with everything a little bit. Between traffic, going straight, no feeling in the car – it’s just like we have to start from the beginning. We need to see what changed between FP1 and FP2. A night of hard work is in front of the guys, but let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Williams
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer
It was a pretty good day and we completed the intended programme. On Lance’s side that involved learning the circuit, as he’s not been here before and it’s quite a tricky track. I’m pleased to say that he drove very well. He progressively built up his pace and managed to put himself sixth in FP2, and he never went off the circuit, which makes him one of a few drivers who had a clean day. So it was a great job by Lance. Felipe did a number of tests for us, but was probably the worst off in terms of traffic throughout the day. It’s been a very scrappy day with a lot of yellow flags and a lot of traffic, so he wasn’t able to put a good lap together in FP2. But we got some good data from his long runs. It’s extremly competitive out there, with some other teams looking fast. So, we’ll work hard on understanding the performance of the car tonight to make sure that we’re in a strong position for qualifying tomorrow.
Lance Stroll
That was good fun, as I am enjoying the track. The car was working well and we didn’t have any issues, which was great. I felt the balance was good and now we just need to think overnight, improve on little bits, come back tomorrow and continue pushing. I think what was really positive was we didn’t have any issues, and nothing that got in the way of us running our programmes. What was really important for me on this kind of track was to get confidence on every lap and every run. Today we did exactly that and didn’t lose any laps with problems or stuff going wrong. Things could be better, as this is still the first day of my first time here and we could improve for the qualifying run, but all in all I have to say it was a very positive day in many ways.
Felipe Massa
It was a good day. I was happy with the car. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really put together a lap on fresh tyres, because of the traffic and the yellow flags. But, I was happy with the balance and I was happy with the long runs. The little mistakes that we made today weren’t a big problem, because we didn’t damage anything, which is always a positive thing here. We’re definitely in the fight, so I hope that we can put everything together for qualifying tomorrow.
Ferrari
The first day of practice at Baku circuit is always interesting, with drivers using a lot of the run-off areas and trying out their reverse gear. The compromise between the fast and the twisty section means that, in the latter, drivers must rely heavily on mechanical grip – which is questionable on Friday. Different choices of set-up though, meant the times were very close. Kimi ended up fourth quickest with a 1min 43.489 seconds, while Seb recorded a best personal lap time of 1min 43.615s. The long runs were even more encouraging for the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, ahead of a long preparation for tomorrow’s P3 and Qualifying sessions.
“The most challenging part of the day was to make the tires work”, said Kimi “to get them hot enough. And obviously, when they are not performing 100%, it’s a bit tricky out there on the track. The car feels ok, but we still have to work on that. If you manage to do that, then everything is a lot easier”.
Seb’s comments reflect what was basically a day of learning: “We tried something in the afternoon, but I think it is difficult to find the rhythm here as the track is not easy. I believe I was not the only one to go down the escape roads. However, tomorrow is another day. I think we are close. Red Bull is very fast and today it was not just for one lap but throughout both sessions. However, I was pretty happy with our overall job. The straight here is very long, so you have to make sure you are quick enough there. Maybe we may still want to try a couple of things even tomorrow”.
Mercedes
— Lewis was fifth fastest in the morning session, with Valtteri in P6
— Valtteri ended the day with the second fastest time in the afternoon session, with Lewis P10
— Both drivers ran the Soft, SuperSoft and Medium compound tyres in FP1
— Both drivers then used the Soft and SuperSoft in FP2
Valtteri Bottas
Practice one was quite tricky: we were struggling with the setup of the car and it wasn’t so well balanced. Today, we needed multiple laps in a row to generate the temperatures we want for a good balance. FP1 wasn’t a happy session, but we made some changes ahead of FP2 and the car definitely felt more comfortable. We are moving in the right direction and hopefully we’ll make another step this evening. We’ll work hard and if we can find those gains we’ll be right up there fighting for pole position.
Lewis Hamilton
It was a difficult day out there. This circuit is a tough one and we had a few challenges that we tried to work through today. We’ve clearly still got lots of work to do ahead of qualifying, but Valtteri’s time in FP2 looked promising, so there is obviously pace in the car, which is encouraging. Now it’s just a case of getting our heads together tonight to work out exactly how to extract that pace across the entire weekend.
James Allison, Technical Director
It was a scrappy day punctuated every few seconds by dozens and dozens of off-track frolics. The associated yellow flags interrupted the rhythm at a circuit where it is quite challenging to get temperature into the tyres, especially the fronts, and that as much as anything dictated your position on the leader board today. However, we have work to do overnight to make the car’s handling sweeter, as both drivers were struggling to get temperature into the front tyres and, as a consequence, suffering with front locking. There is going to be a lot more lap time to come from all of the front runners as the track rubbers in and the drivers gain in confidence. It’s already close at the front, so I expect that those who work well overnight, and keep a cool head tomorrow, will be rewarded in qualifying and the race.
Force India
Force India had a busy day of practice on the Baku Street Circuit, ending the day with both cars inside the top 10.
SERGIO PEREZ
“First and foremost, I want to thank my mechanics and the whole team for fixing the car so quickly. They are some of the best guys in the pit lane and they showed exactly why. This morning was all about trying to find the limits, and I think we did – it was good it happened today rather than tomorrow. It was a bit of a messy day, not just with what happened in FP1 but also because of all the yellow and red flags breaking the flow of the sessions. I still think we are in a good position. Tonight we will need to work out the best set-up: I feel we have a good potential for the weekend, we just have to put it all together when it matters.”
ESTEBAN OCON
“I’m pretty happy about today. We had good pace in the car and I felt quite comfortable right from the start. I feel we couldn’t really show our speed because of all the yellow flags and the traffic I found on my quick laps, but it doesn’t matter. The important days for this weekend are yet to come. It was my first time around this circuit, so the priority was to keep out of trouble: this is not an easy track to learn but I enjoy the challenge. It’s a narrow circuit and it’s very easy to brake a bit too late, which is why there were so many yellow flags.”
ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL
“It was not the most straightforward of Fridays, with Sergio’s unfortunate crash during the first practice session. The crew did a truly fantastic job to replace all the broken components and get the car out for the start of FP2, which allowed us to complete a full programme this afternoon. Aside from the incident, it was a productive day. We witnessed a lot of track evolution, which is normal for a temporary street circuit: together with the conservative range of tyre compounds, it meant a lot of our work was about understanding the tyres and getting them to work. The sessions had a lot of interruptions, with many yellow and red flags, which disrupted everyone’s performance runs, so we chose to focus on high fuel running. We were also able to split some test items between the two cars. We have plenty to analyse tonight – the initial feeling is positive but there is always room for improvement. Our performance today was reasonable, but it is still too early to tell where we stand.”
Sauber
An overall challenging Friday for the Sauber F1 Team ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Although the day went according to the planned programme, Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein were struggling with the grip in both practice sessions on the Baku City Circuit. Overall, the Swede and the German completed 46 and 44 laps respectively.
Marcus Ericsson
“It has not been a good day for us here in Baku – it was difficult to begin FP1 on medium tyres, so I did not get off to the best start. I found it interesting to try out different mechanical updates throughout the practice sessions. Analysing the data will allow us to decide how to move forward for the rest of the weekend. I am looking forward to FP3 and qualifying tomorrow.”
Pascal Wehrlein
“It was a rather challenging Friday for us. It was positive that we were able to try out various car setups, and that we could work through our programme for the day. We knew that the track layout would be a challenge to our pace, however did not anticipate the full extent to which it would impact our performance. We are now working towards making improvements for the rest of the weekend.”
McLaren
As predicted, the opening day of practice for the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix (last year’s race was run under the label of the ‘European GP’) was frantic and busy – and punctuated by numerous off-track excursions, yellow flags, and a couple of red-flag stoppages.
Through it all, Stoffel Vandoorne had a few harmless offs down a couple of escape roads – but ended the day 17th fastest, having posted a 17th-quickest time of 1m46.174s earlier in FP2.
Fernando was immediately quick in today’s second session, but didn’t get an opportunity to conclude his run-plan. His day was cut short by a suspected gearbox problem, which brought his MCL32 to a smoky halt on the inside of Turn 16. Nonetheless, his 1m45.515s best was still 12th overall.
FERNANDO ALONSO
“We tested a few things in FP1 and FP2, running with different levels of downforce, trying to get some useful information for tomorrow. Stoffel worked on tyres, running on high fuel, both of which will help us make some useful decisions about strategy.
“The track was tricky today – the Prime and Back-Up tyres lose some heat on the long straights, so when you get onto the brakes they suddenly lock up and you go straight on. We saw many cars going off today, mainly because everyone tries to find their limit on Friday. I think we’ll see fewer offs tomorrow, and even fewer on Sunday.
“I lost the last half hour of the second session, so I suppose tomorrow we’ll need to do some running on high fuel, to catch up with the programme.
“We’ll have to start at the back of the grid anyway, so we’ll take things smoothly in qualifying.”
STOFFEL VANDOORNE
“Today, we chose to concentrate on our long-run pace because we knew we’d be taking grid penalties for the race.
“Still, I quickly got to grips with the track in FP1, and I think there’s a bit more to come tomorrow. The car feels pretty positive around here, which is good because you need confidence on a street circuit. I also think the preparatory work I did in the sim has paid off pretty well – I felt immediately comfortable with where I had to brake, so it seems like the work was really worth it.
“The tyres are quite tricky again here; it looks like everyone is struggling to warm them up, with lots of people having lock-ups. It’s tricky – especially in the braking zones, because the tyres cool down on the long straights and then you have to brake very hard into the corners. The car’s really on a knife-edge in terms of extracting a good lap-time.”
ERIC BOULLIER
“We knew coming into this race that it would be a tough weekend for the whole team.
“Fernando had a nice little engine upgrade to try this weekend – but, unfortunately, we broke the gearbox in FP2. It was a Friday unit, with high mileage, but we still managed to see some progress, which was good.
“Still, with both drivers facing grid penalties that would relegate them to either the back row of the grid or possibly a start from the pit-lane, we knew we’d need to do something a little different from the norm to get the most out of our weekend.
“So we decided to treat today as a little bit of an intensive test session, running a different Friday programme to normal. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll overlook the grand prix – after all, we still have to deliver a race for our fans, our partners, and for everybody working hard in Woking, Sakura and Milton Keynes.
“But we’ve adopted a different approach, trying some different ways of working to see if we can do things better or if we can learn something useful for the future.
YUSUKE HASEGAWA
“We came to Baku armed with an update for Fernando’s PU, which we ran during both practice sessions today. Working through our programme in accordance with today’s schedule, I can confirm that we were able to see the effectiveness of the update in the data.
“It was disappointing that Fernando had to stop the car during FP2, and unfortunately for us it was before doing his timed lap, but we still saw certain progress with the power of the PU. Overall, I regard today as positive – we didn’t have any major issues with the new spec PU, and I feel that we’ve taken an encouraging step forward.
“Although it was Stoffel’s first time at this circuit, he had a good first outing, and we were able to work through his programme in accordance with our schedule.
“As this is a power-hungry circuit with long straights, tomorrow’s qualifying will no doubt be tough for us, but, as always, we’ll keep pushing to do our best.”
Renault F1
Renault Sport Formula One Team drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer ended the first day of practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix just 0.058secs apart with Nico posting the fifteenth and Jolyon the sixteenth fastest times on the Baku City Circuit.
Nico Hülkenberg
“A pretty standard Friday for me except for not getting a fast run on the softest tyres during FP2. It was pretty slippery in FP1, but the track had improved for the evening session. We made some decent progress through the day and I would have been quicker if I’d had a shot at a fast lap on the Supersoft tyres. As always, there are improvements we can make for tomorrow, so that’s where our focus lies.”
Jolyon Palmer
“It was pretty slippery out there and we struggled to get grip from the tyres. The car was feeling better in FP2 but I was caught out at turn eight which ended my day early. We had made progress between FP1 and FP2 and there’s more we can make for tomorrow. Thankfully there’s not too much damage to the car, so we’ll look to get it where we want it to be for qualifying.”
Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer
“The first session went reasonably smoothly, but the evening session was dominated by a number of yellow flag incidents which affected our run programme. Jolyon had an early bath, however we did get a long run with Nico in the car so there’s sufficient data for race strategy decisions and Jolyon’s car won’t require too much work, so no big dramas.”