“To be honest we’ve had two pretty difficult sessions today as we’ve struggled with the balance of the car. It’s been very nervous on both sets of tyres so a little disappointing that we seem to still have this problem. We’ll just have to take a good look at the data and see what we can find to improve the situation for tomorrow.”
Charles Pic, P1 - 1:28.633, 22nd; P2 - 1:27.664, 22nd
“I am quite happy with the way today has been. We made good progress across the two sessions and I feel the benefit of the new update. I think there is more we can find overnight to prepare us for qualifying, but generally it feels like we can have a good rest of the weekend. A good start I think.”
John Booth, Marussia team principal
“We always said that whilst we were pleased with our test in Mugello, a better barometer of how much our updates would improve our car’s performance would be once we got to a more representative circuit such as this one. We don’t feel that we have made the best start today and there is a slight air of disappointment as a result, however we must stay focused as it will only be after qualifying tomorrow that we will be able to make a full assessment of our the step. Overall we can be pleased that the reliability of the car has been good and allowed us to complete our set-up and aero programmes today. The results of our aerodynamic tests in FP1 can now be applied across both cars for FP3 tomorrow. Neither driver is 100% happy with the balance so far, however I’m sure that time spent looking at the data tonight will allow for improved set-ups in the morning.”
