Friday Team Quotes

McLaren Formula 1 Team

Oscar Piastri (1st, 1:30.505): "Friday done. Pretty tricky conditions out there today, especially in FP1, but I think it's been a good day overall. The pace looked strong in FP2, and we've learned a lot. We'll have a look at what went well and what we can do better before turning our attention to Qualifying tomorrow afternoon."

Lando Norris (2nd, 1:30.659): "A reasonable day for the team. Some tricky conditions, very different to the test, so it's about understanding the car in the heat. The team have worked hard all day, and we now have plenty of things to focus on tomorrow to make sure we're in a strong position for Qualifying."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "We enjoyed a reasonable first day here in Bahrain, where we were able to complete our run plans as intended. This circuit offers an interesting challenge when it comes to tyre degradation, and we have gathered important data in this area. While our FP2 times looked encouraging, we know we still have some work to do to convert this into a strong Qualifying position tomorrow, which in turn will be critical when it comes to giving us opportunities on Sunday. As always, we will analyse the data overnight, see where we can make improvements and put ourselves in the best possible position to fight during Qualifying."

Scuderia Ferrari HP

Charles Leclerc (4th, 1:31.045): "The temperatures are so much higher than during testing here, so FP2 was tricky. The feeling in the car is completely different and we have to adjust the car to suit it. We will work on that tonight and try to optimise the setup. I'm trying to push in a direction that will allow me to extract the most out of the car for my driving style. With our competitors ahead of us by quite a bit, I'm motivated to close that gap as soon as possible. We have to focus on maximising the potential of our car. I think we can still find some performance ahead of qualifying and we will do everything to extract the most from our upgrade. Let's see where that will place us tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton (8th, 1:31.576): "FP1 was quite tricky — the heat made it difficult to find grip, so it wasn't the most representative session for us. FP2 was a step forward. The lap on softs was looking strong, but I went a bit deep into the final corner and lost some time there. Our race runs were solid, but others seem competitive in all conditions, so we'll be working hard overnight to close the gap."

Dino Beganovic: "Making my first official Formula 1 appearance in a Ferrari is a real privilege and I will remember this day in Bahrain forever. I really had an amazing time, I enjoyed every moment. We completed our plan with no issues and I hope it contributed to helping the team. I want to thank Charles, the team and the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy for this amazing opportunity. I will now focus on my Formula 2 campaign and will do my best to maximise the learnings from today."

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen (7th, 1:31.330): "It was a more difficult session today although it was a shorter day for me, I had limiting running time as Ayumu was in the car for FP1. It took a few laps to get into it, the balance wasn't too bad, but we were struggling a lot with the grip. As a Team we had a bit of a different approach to our Friday than our competitors, but the gap is quite big at the moment. We have quite a bit of work to do also in the long run and we're hoping that tomorrow is more fun."

Yuki Tsunoda (18th, 1:32.024): "Today was a bit of learning, we ran different set-up across the cars to see what the performance looked like. But overall, I would say the second session was a bit messy for me, with being able to put it together. There were also some communication struggles on radio between my race engineer and me, that's all just part of the learning process and understanding one another properly, it's only the fifth session together since I jumped in the car. For now, there is some struggling, but at the same time a lot will come from cleaner communication. I think if we can clean up the communication then it'll make operational things a lot smoother, warm-up, the switches etc. and that would bring lap times. Maybe Woody and I need to go out tonight and get to know each other, with my Japanese English and his Scottish English! It would be a fun night. It's hard to tell where we are at the moment, I feel there is potential, but it has been hard to extract it. It wasn't the finest Friday ever, I hope the rest of the weekend is better, I have to be better. I am still feeling optimistic and I am sure we will change a lot of things overnight."

Ayumu Iwasa: "It was a really great experience to get to drive the RB21 in Bahrain, a big thank you to the Team for the opportunity. It was a bit tricky with the session I had, we had an aero test at the beginning of the session, so I didn't do many laps today, but I was focused on trying to do my best and to not make many mistakes. Towards the end of the session, I was feeling more comfortable in the car and was able to provide more feedback on the radio. It has been really helpful to work with GP and the engineering team, to hear their feedback on my performance and to work with them. I had tested previously in the VCARB car, so it was great to have another opportunity to drive in an F1 car. It was overall a new and nice experience in the car and with the Team and will help prepare myself for hopefully more opportunities in the future."

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

George Russell (3rd, 1:31.032): "It [FP2] was OK. We expected McLaren to be a step ahead here and we saw that today. They were a strongest in the middle sector where the tyres are overheating, so we know we've got a bit of work to do if we want to challenge them. I think we're in position fighting for the next best behind them in all honesty. I think it's going to be close between ourselves, Ferrari and the Red Bulls. It is hard to say with confidence, but we saw both teams performing strongly at different points throughout the day. I definitely feel, unlike the last three races, this won't be dominated by Qualifying - this weekend is going to be dominated by race pace and by tyre degradation. Of course, you want to have a good Qualifying, but the race is where the action will be."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (5th, 1:31.227): "FP1 was obviously quote short. Unfortunately, I had a water leak on the car, so I had to stop and couldn't drive for the rest of the session. That was a shame because you don't want to miss out on laps. FP2 was quite positive though. The single lap was quite good, even though I made a big mistake in sector one, and overall I felt pretty good in the car. The long run was quite tricky - completely different to what we had in testing, so I had to adapt, but overall, despite the issue in FP1, it was a positive day. Being at a track that I know definitely helped get me up to speed more quickly today. I felt straightaway in FP2 that I had confidence with the car and despite the track being different to when I've driven here previously, I had the confidence to be able to push. McLaren still seem to be the favourite but I think we should be fighting for the top five in tomorrow's Qualifying. We can definitely take the fight to the Red Bulls and Ferrari, but let's wait and see what Saturday brings."

Fred Vesti: "What a day it's been. Yesterday was awesome to be back in the paddock and working with the team preparing for the day today. I was really happy to be back in the car - it felt really good to challenge myself and to push to the limit. Obviously spending so much time in the simulator, it's just really nice to get time in the real car, learning more about the tyres and the W16 itself. As a racing driver, feeling that energy through the body is something you miss a lot when you're in the simulator. I want to thank Mercedes for giving me the opportunity again to run in FP1 and continue my journey. My motivation is very high and I will continue to push. For now, it's back to Brackley, back to work with the team there and correlate what I've learned today in the simulator. We will continue pushing towards even better results and race wins."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "We had Fred Vesti in the car for FP1 and he did a great job for us. The programme was designed for our learning rather than setting headline times but when we correct for the Medium compound and fuel, the times were impressive considering that it was his first time in the W16. Unfortunately, we lost Kimi's car early in the session with a water leak. We were able to quickly identify the issue and resolved it for FP2 although it was a shame to lose the running. The cooler conditions of the evening session meant the grip was higher and the car was more together. We managed a good programme with both drivers, electing to do two Soft tyres in the conditions more relevant to Qualifying. There's plenty still to work on. The track is much hotter than the test so keeping tyres in the window is more difficult both on single lap and long run but it's a decent baseline to work from and the car is at least quite consistent in its behaviour around the lap. As we've seen at the recent races, it's quite tight. McLaren look strong here but we expected that after testing but hopefully we can get ourselves into the podium fight."

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

Fernando Alonso (15th, 1:31.825): "I think it's going to be a tough weekend. Before coming here, the characteristics of Bahrain was a concern for us and our package, but we will learn and see what we can do the rest of the weekend. We had an issue with the steering early in FP2, but the mechanics were able to change the parts and it was okay after that, so thank you everyone in the garage for getting it fixed quickly."

Lance Stroll (19th, 1:32.382): "I think we were on the back foot today so we'll see what we can come up with tonight after looking at the data. With the nature of the circuit, I don't think it's going to be an easy weekend for us, so there is going to be some work to do."

Felipe Drugovich: "It was pretty tricky out there, probably the lowest grip I've ever driven and different to the conditions I have driven in before. It was quite challenging, but once I got a feel for it I put a lap together which was okay. I felt a bit rusty because it's been a while since i've been in these cars, but it's always a pleasure and I really enjoyed myself."

BWT Alpine F1 Team

Jack Doohan (14th, 1:31.788): "It's been a solid day's Practice in Bahrain. We struggled a little bit in Free Practice 1 and I still was not completely happy in Free Practice 2. The field is so close, two tenths of a second splits a number of cars, so every detail will count for a lot especially in a tight fight for Q3. We will keep our heads down and keep working hard to find some improvements from today. There will be plenty of useful data for us to run through from this evening's session both on low and high fuel and across all three compounds. Tomorrow, Free Practice 3 will be hot like we had in the first session today. It will be all about refining some details, understanding the tyres and maximising what we have when it counts."

Pierre Gasly (17th, 1:31.947): "The conditions here in Bahrain are very different now compared to pre-season testing. In Free Practice 1 it was extremely hot and it was just low grip all session. It was quite nice to be second on the leaderboard even if it was not a representative session for various reasons. In Free Practice 2, the Hard tyre at the start felt okay but we just seemed to struggle on the Soft tyre. It's important we understand that compound a bit better and see how we can optimise it over one lap. The midfield is extremely tight again and I remain optimistic that we can improve ahead of tomorrow. We will do our homework tonight and make sure we get it right tomorrow evening."

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team

Oliver Bearman (9th, 1:31.584): "It was a good session, although I'm slightly struggling to get a good feeling with the car; I had some brake issues I was dealing with for the whole session. It still looks like on low-fuel we're pretty competitive and we tried to run long with the soft tire, so we'll see what the data says but I'm pretty happy with today even though I got one session in. I definitely think the new floor is working as expected, which is great, as the team pushed it forward and brought it very quickly. I'm proud of them for that and it looks like we can run the car pretty aggressively now which is great for performance, so hopefully we can keep up the good performance."

Esteban Ocon (16th, 1:31.870): "It was a difficult session and not really much to read from FP1 but a lot more came from FP2, so we'll gather more data after today. It was hard for us as we're still struggling, since Suzuka, with a little bouncing in the car. We're lacking some top-speed as well, but we'll keep working to find this for tomorrow. As a team we're trying our best to figure it out, but at the moment it's similar to Suzuka."

Ryo Hirakawa: "Having done the post-season test with the team last year was helpful, I already knew the team, so I've settled in quickly again. It was quite a different experience from last week as the track temp was very high, so it was quite a tricky session for me. To be honest, I didn't have time to completely adapt to the car, which was a shame, but still I had a good feeling and gave my feedback to the team. The car is going in a good direction and I've got more sessions coming, so I can prepare better."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "Ryo was in the car for the first time with us in FP1, I think he struggled a little bit in terms of braking, but other than that I think he's done a very good job. His feedback was good, his attitude was brilliant – as professional as we saw in Abu Dhabi – so we just need to look into it before his next outing in Barcelona, what we can do to improve his feeling under braking. In FP2, Ollie was back in the car and straight away picked it up well. He had a slightly different brake issue, but he managed to put together one lap on soft tires, but on high-fuel because of the issue he struggled a bit so we really need to solve the issue tonight. On Esteban's side, I think he's reasonably happy but he needs to find a bit more performance. Overall, I don't think we're in a bad place, as far as Friday's go, but we need to solve the brake issue for Ollie and improve the car a little for FP3 and Quali."

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team

Isack Hadjar (6th, 1:31.238): "Generally, we had a good feeling in the car, but there's still room for improvement, so a lot to look forward to for tomorrow. We had a good FP2 today, especially after how hot the track was during FP1, where we were not able to gather any reliable information. FP2 made much more sense and we looked strong in one-lap pace. Generally, we had a good feeling in the car, but there's still room for improvement, so a lot to look forward to for tomorrow. I'm optimistic, as I know I'm going to put the work in tonight. It's not surprising that all the gaps are really close in the midfield; we're in the mix and I know it's going to be about details for tomorrow's Qualifying."

Liam Lawson (12th, 1:31.706): "The balance in FP2 went away from us a little bit, but in general I think the car is in a good place, it's just fine tuning. FP2 was more tricky for us weirdly because of the track conditions in FP1 making it a difficult session. The balance in FP2 went away from us a little bit, but in general I think the car is in a good place, it's just fine tuning. Tomorrow we have a session in the day, which isn't going to help us for Quali, but we'll be taking what we can from this session ahead of then. I made a pretty big mistake in FP2 which dropped me down, so for all of us it's important to nail the lap, otherwise it's very costly here. Right now in Formula One, the difference between a really good lap and a bad lap can completely change your position so it puts pressure on us out on track."

Alan Permane, Racing Director: "We're optimistic we can get the maximum out of the cars tomorrow and have them close to each other and well positioned for the race. An interesting day, as Fridays always are here in Bahrain. We've got two distinct and different sets of conditions to face in the practice sessions. FP1 is very hot and not representative of what we will face in Qualifying and the race; today we saw track temperatures rise to nearly 50 degrees on track. FP2 is much cooler, making it tricky to set the cars up because the grip is so different between both sessions. Tomorrow we will face the same thing with FP3 being hotter and then it being cooler under the lights for Qualifying. We had a very normal day though, we've done our homework and we've got a decent balance on the cars. Isack was very happy with his car, with Liam still having a little work to do to, but it's not a true reflection on where he can be. We're optimistic we can get the maximum out of the cars tomorrow and have them close to each other and well positioned for the race."

Williams Racing

Carlos Sainz (10th, 1:31.623): "After skipping FP1 we got up to speed pretty quickly in the short run, and then in the long run we struggled with some car balance issues and tyres, but we'll do some work tonight to see if we can sort them. The track and the car feel completely different to when we were here for testing, so we need to make a few adjustments to make sure that we hit the sweet spot tomorrow."

Alexander Albon (11th, 1:31.696): "We weren't quite as competitive today as we were when we were here for pre-season testing, and we fell back a little bit in the heat. The issues we're seeing were expected though and some balance issues have been exposed. We only seem to have them at this track, it's interesting. We know it's going to be close here, but the good thing is, it's nothing major that needs fixing; the car feels good."

Luke Browning: "Coming from F2 Practice to F1 Practice was tough as it was such a big step up! Saying that, it was probably harder the other way - stepping back to F2. It's always nicer to go from F2 to F1, to push everything up. I think we did a good job out there; I really enjoyed it. I was in an F1 car in Monza last week for our test, so it was great to be able to apply everything I learned then to this weekend. Getting more mileage in was a big help. Big thanks to Williams for the opportunity!"

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

Gabriel Bortoleto (13th, 1:31.772): "Overall, it's been a positive day for us. FP1 was quite challenging with the high temperatures and a dusty track, which made the balance difficult to manage at times. The team did a very good job ahead of FP2 and we managed to make solid improvements with the setup – an effort for which I'd like to thank everyone in the garage. The car felt much more consistent, and I was happy with the performance we were able to extract. Looking ahead to FP3, there's obviously still some work to do overnight, but I feel like we are in a decent place. We'll stay focused, keep pushing, and seek to carry this momentum forward."

Nico Hulkenberg (20th, 1:32.496): "It was a tricky Friday. For the first time this year, we were facing really hot conditions – especially during daytime in FP1. The conditions differed quite severely from our test sessions in February. Though the run on soft tyres in particular did not meet expectations, we gathered a lot of data to help us to improve the car for the weekend. Now it is about reviewing both practice sessions in detail to make the right calls and be well prepared for the rest of the weekend."