Reasonable Friday pace for Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa enjoyed two trouble free practice sessions in the lead up to the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul Park. On a very hot and dusty track they both completed their race preparations according to plan.

Kamui Kobayashi:
C29.01 / Ferrari 056
1st Practice: 11th / 1:30.615 min (20 laps) / 2nd Practice: 13th / 1:30.053 min (34 laps)
“To me the balance of the car felt fine, but we do have two areas to look at. We have a lack of grip and we are too slow on the straights. If you work on one issue you tend to make the other worse. But we will find a good compromise. I enjoyed driving a lot and, as we had no trouble with the car, it was a productive day for us.“


Pedro de la Rosa:
C29.03 / Ferrari 056
1st Practice: 15th / 1:31.238 (18 laps) / 2nd Practice: 14th / 1:30.176 min (34 laps)
“In the afternoon we had a very good test comparing the race tyres – the harder prime versus the softer option compounds. We did a lot of race preparation today, which went very well. The long runs were good and pretty consistent. What we still need to work on is finding the right balance on new tyres.“


James Key, Technical Director:
“It was a fairly standard Friday where we ran through the programmes on both cars, looking at setting up the car for the circuit and the tyres. There are significant balance changes with different fuel levels and tyre compounds, which we need to consider for qualifying and the race. Otherwise there were no technical problems, and the drivers are fairly happy with the conditions they found the cars in. I think the race pace looks reasonable. We have got some work to do for lower fuel levels, but we have some clear directions to pursue for that. It’s obviously very close in the midfield, so we have to make sure we get the best out of the cars.”