Japanese GP - Suzuka - Friday Practice
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. John, I know you have been asked this question many times. Do you expect to be here next year? Is it rather late for your budget.
John HOWETT: No, I just can't get my head around that. We plan much further ahead than others. If you run a company you get a budget reduction half-way through the year. We are just professionals and we manage it. We have got alternative scenarios and I expect to be back at Suzuka hopefully without the rain next year.
Q. Do we read into the driver situation that both drivers are free to negotiate their own deals elsewhere if they want to?
JH: I think the market is very fluid. I think we have tried to be fair to the drivers to say that we may not have seats for them and therefore I think it is fair and transparent to do that. We remain in contact with both of them, particularly Timo (Glock). But I do feel there will be movements in the driver market, some movements even that people aren't speculating about at the moment and therefore we want to be free to consider the best option for the team for next year. We think we will have a strong car and we want good results.
Q. Is (Robert) Kubica on that list?
JH: Yes, definitely we would be interested. I guess we are probably fighting with our friends here on the right (Renault). But we have to see what happens. Hopefully we can manage but if not then there are alternatives.
Q. Has Timo, after an excellent second place in Singapore, strengthened his case?
JH: I think you have to say yes, but on the other hand we would have liked to have seen that result more consistently. His race pace is outstanding. It always has been and sometimes in qualifying he has struggled and makes life extremely hard for himself. We still have a great affinity for Timo and we are still talking and he may well be in the car next year but it is too early to confirm our situation.
Q. Is he definitely going to be in the car tomorrow?
JH: Well, I hope so. He had a temperature of 39.1 this morning. It has dropped now and I hope he will be in the car tomorrow.
Q. It is not necessarily definite? He is still unwell?
JH: Yeah, we think based on the information we have tonight he should be in the car tomorrow. I don't think he missed that much today to be honest, so I think it was best to keep him out of the wet and in good condition for tomorrow.
Q. Bob, new jobs. Tell us about how life has changed for you and how easy it has been to step into Flavio's (Briatore) shoes?
Bob BELL: Well, first of all, no intention to step into his shoes. Housekeeping a few of his responsibilities over the coming months but I am no Flavio Briatore and I have no intention to be. It is extra work but it is not just extra work for me, it is extra work for a lot of people in the team. Some of the responsibilities are filtered down the chain. We are set up to deal with that and we are all getting on with it. It has been a bit of a baptism of fire, back to back races on top of other things, so not much time to think about it.
Q. Are you likely to remain team principal or is that not a job that you want to do on a permanent basis?
BB: Quite honestly, it is not a job I am considering whether I do long term or not at the minute. I think actually Renault are probably in the same position. We need to get through these next four races in good shape and do some restructuring in the team and sort out some major issues in good time for next year. I think once we have done that we will take stock of the situation and decide what is best for the team in the long term.
Q. How crucial has it been to lose (Fernando) Alonso for next year?
BB: Fernando has been such a huge part of our team for many years. It is sad to see him go but we wish him well. People move on at all levels of the sport and we have to deal with it and we will hopefully put together a good driver line-up for next year that will see us not suffer too badly for his departure.
Q. What do you think he is going to be like at Ferrari?
BB: I don't honestly know. There is no doubting his driving abilities. I think he will get on alright there. I think they will accommodate him as an individual and I think he will do a fine job. I think it will work well there for him.
Q. Hiroshi, can I have a comment about the tyre philosophy of compounds? Having compounds one and two removed. How has that gone this year?
Hiroshi YASUKAWA: Actually, last year when we were using two specifications, that time between each specification gap everybody said it was too small. This time we have to provide just one specification. Anyhow if we are concerned about teams and ourselves, some teams we know very well and they know us very well. We thought it better to supply two specifications. Then this year we discussed with the FIA, and the FIA also said it is better to provide two different specifications. Then we supplied sometimes too big a gap. I think this is good as if just one team has a big gap and a different team has a small gap, this is a bit unfair. But our philosophy is that we are going to supply fair treatment, so then always even with different characteristics, different specifications, we are going to supply the same tyres for each team.
Q. Is it going to be the same next year and how is it going to work with the fact there is no refuelling, so the cars are going to be much heavier at the start?
HY: We are going to discuss with the FIA. The front tyre is going to be narrower and the wet tyre, the intermediate, is also going to have narrower front tyres.
Q. Coming back to this grand prix. How much homework have you had to do with the resurfacing here, given that people have already lost one practice day?
HY: Yeah, actually very interesting. But of course we cannot do any test. Fortunately we supply our tyres for Formula Nippon and GT cars and our engineer has quite a big experience especially here in Suzuka. We are going to transfer this knowledge to .... (becomes inaudible).
Q. Do you think it is going to be different? Are they quite different characteristics the two types of circuits?
HY: I don't think so. We can manage.
Q. You have been official tyre supplier for quite some time. This is the second year of your current three-year agreement. How important is Formula One to Bridgestone?
HY: For us it is very, very important. You remember, before, we were not in Formula One. In this case now many people realise our company name. The Formula One impact is very strong. Each grand prix I understand, 188 countries broadcast the race. This impact is very strong and fortunately we have the rights for signage. This is great. Hopefully we can keep going.
Q. Christian, engine situation inevitably. We saw Sebastian (Vettel) doing quite a few laps today. But obviously it is not so tough on the engine. How many races has this current engine got to do?
Christian HORNER: The race engines are in reasonable shape. The race engine we will use this weekend had its first race in Monza. The race engine we used last weekend had its first race in Spa. We will alternate those engines in the remaining races. The test engines we have been a little bit more limited on, as obviously Sebastian is in to all eight of his engines. But with the help of Renault we have exceeded their target kilometres, especially in Singapore, by some margin to ensure that he is getting the mileage. Hopefully, it will continue as we have and the lack of mileage today because of the weather only helps us for Brazil, so hopefully without any issues we should be able to get through to the end of the year without a penalty.
Q. What is the situation about your engines in the future? When are you going to make a decision on that?
CH: Well, inevitably the design team are fairly enthusiastic to know what they are supposed to be designing their gearbox and chassis around. Adrian (Newey) does not have a habit of releasing chassis early. But, inevitably, we are getting to a point where we do need to make a decision, so in the next few weeks we will have to hone in on a final position.
Q. It is a few weeks, not days?
CH: It depends who you speak to. But Ross Brawn did it in December which demonstrates where there is a will there is a way. But it is not ideal, so ideally we would like to come up with a final solution in the near future.
Q. What as team principal are your views of the World Championship at the moment? Has it completely gone as far as Red Bull is concerned? Mathematically it is still possible.
CH: I mean we have got a mountain to climb and the odds are stacked against us being able to win either the Constructors' or the Drivers' but we are in both championships. Sebastian is still in contention for the drivers' and the constructors' is still doable. We need a fair bit of good fortune to achieve that but to be honest we are not focussed on the championships. We are thinking about the individual races. We will do our best at each of the remaining three races, try and win all three of them, and the championships will take care of themselves. Kimi (Raikkonen) a couple of years ago came from quite a way behind.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Chris Lines - Associated Press) John, regarding your comments about Kubica. How are you able to know how much you can spend on a driver until you get a final okay from Toyota regarding your budget for next season?
JH: It is fairly easy. To me the budget is going to be roughly this size and you can reduce other areas. It is fairly simple. If you buy a cheaper driver, you can deploy that in other areas. I think a very simple equation for us.
Q. (Chris Lines – Associated Press) You have a rough idea then? It is not something that is going to vary wildly from what it is this year?
JH: No, I mean I guess less than this year but still a very significant and substantial budget.
Q. (Will Buxton – Australasian Motor Sport News) Question for Bob and John. It seems at the moment that Robert Kubica is either going to go to Renault or Toyota if the rumours are correct. Between the two of you who do you think has got the best chance of signing him?
BB: I think I will say we have and John will say he has, so I think we will let history determine that one.
JH: I mean we wait and see. I think we have an even chance.
Q. (Ralf Bach – R & B) Two questions for Mr Howett. First I read that you are also in touch with Kimi Raikkonen?
JH: Not with Kimi, but with his management, yes.
Q. (Ralf Bach – R & B) Second question. What is the illness of Timo. Is it Kobayashi fever?
JH: I just won't answer. It is a stupid question and it doesn't deserve an answer.
Q. Hiroshi, Saturday and Sunday will be different weather from Friday. What is important about the tyre strategy for Saturday and Sunday?
HY: Always the track conditions are changing. When you are coming to the race track this race track surface is normally very rough, but when cars are running and always put on some rubber the conditions get better. Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday it always improves and each time set-up is going to change and you should find a good set-up for good performance for the tyres.
Q. (Will Buxton – Australasian Motor Sport News) Christian, the GP3 teams were announced last night and you're going to go into business with Mark (Webber) in a GP3 team. Can you just tell us how that's going to work out? And also, since you moved over to Red Bull Racing from Arden, the team has never won a championship. Are you going to do anything more with Arden in GP2 and GP3 to ensure an improved level of success?
CH: Arden's been very successful since I left on a fulltime basis five years ago. They've won races every year, they have the capacity to take on more activities, GP3 being an obvious one, supporting grands prix at ten events, unfortunately on a Pirelli tyre – I don't know what happened there! Mark has been looking at other bits and pieces and he was keen to get involved in something. Arden have the capacity to do it and therefore it made sense. He was keen to put something back into the sport to support young drivers, to set an example, work with them, young Australian drivers in particular. I think it's a good initiative that he's got involved in, to be putting something back into the sport, trying to help youngsters come through. There's a good management structure at Arden, my time is fully focussed on Red Bull Racing but I've got no doubt that they'll do very well.
Q. (Jerome Bourret – L'Equipe) To all of you, may I ask your opinion on Ross Brawn's success as team principal? Is it a surprise for you and do you think he's the man who made the former Honda team into a winning one?
CH: I think it's thoroughly depressing, the success that he's had this year! It would have been far better if they had never made the first race! But no, in all seriousness, they have obviously done a very good job, they've turned up with a good car, they've inherited a good engine and their drivers have done a very good job. It's been a great season for them and we're going to make it as difficult as possible for them in the remaining three races.
HY: They are doing a fantastic job, it's great, but racing is very difficult. It requires much know-how and many things happen. I respect their results.
BB: They've done an incredible job considering where they were a year ago – all credit to them. I think it's a great thing for the sport as well, that surprises like that still occur. I think that's great for everybody.
JH: I think the results speak for themselves, it's indisputable and full credit to them.
Q. (Joris Fioriti – AFP) To all of you: we all want Formula One to gain an audience but when it's raining drivers don't run. It's quite strange, it doesn't happen in other sports. Are you quite ashamed of what happened today? They paid 200 Euros for their seats and they didn't see any cars.
JH: Wimbledon gets rained off quite frequently.
CH: I think one of the things it would be nice to address for next year and maybe Hiroshi can help us on this is that we are a bit limited on wet tyres, so we're saving them up for the rest of the weekend, because there's a good chance that there's a bit of rain tomorrow. If Hiroshi's a bit more generous with his tyres then you might see a bit more of us on the track on a wet Friday.
HY: It's a big problem. Our budget is also limited, so we have to strike a balance. Anyhow, our responsibility is that we have to supply equal treatment for everybody. And also, our position is very, very tough. Actually, our main business is selling our tyres for cars but if the car business is very bad, in this case we are not selling which means that we cannot make any profit. Nowadays our board members are very tough on me. I have been doing this business a very long time, so I understand the balance required, so at some stage we need to find a good compromise.
JH: I think on a serious note, it's a very valid point. It's something that all the teams are acutely aware of, that we have to increase the value which we deliver to the public at races and all stakeholders. So given more time, through FOTA we can try to address some of these issues and ensure that we deliver solid value and good value particularly to the fans and public.
BB: I agree with John. If we can run and put on a show for the spectators and we can do it safely then we should do and quite rightly so. I'm sure Hiroshi would love to see us running as well, but he's got real budget issues too. Equally, I'm sure a compromise can be found that will deal with this issue in the future but it does need to be dealt with.
Q. (Ken Kawakita – La Vie Creative) John, can we have a little more detailed update about Timo's condition? Is it possible he has 'flu A' which is spreading widely through Japan?
JH: At the moment the doctor doesn't think that's the case, so he's obviously had quite heavy anti-biotic treatment today and he seems to be responding well. At the moment his fever's dropping and we feel confident he can probably drive tomorrow. I think the doctor has to wait and see. Obviously he's had some worry about that. Jarno (Trulli) was actually quite sick on Monday, after the race. He wasn't too good during the race weekend and I think some of the teams' technicians have got various colds and fevers. I think quite a few people have suffered throughout the teams. Timo's definitely rough.
Q. (Ken Kawakita – La Vie Creative) So that means there is still a slim chance for Kamui (Kobayashi) to continue driving for the whole weekend?
JH: I think it's unlikely, to be honest, because I think Timo's really determined to drive tomorrow but there is a risk if he's not in good enough condition then there's a possibility that Kamui will be in the car but I expect Timo to be here tomorrow and driving the car.
Q. (Chris Lines – Associated Press) Bob, in the past couple of weeks you've lost Flavio, Pat (Symonds) and now Fernando. You mentioned earlier that there have to be some major decisions at the end of the season. Should we have any worries about the future of Renault in Formula One, as a team and as an engine supplier?
BB: Well, I'm not worried, if you can read anything into that. I think that for me the most important thing is that Renault are still here, despite the crisis we've just been through. It's been an extremely deep and difficult crisis, not just for the team but for the parent organisation and the fact that Renault have stood by us throughout all of this I think speaks volumes for their commitment, both to the team and to Formula One because their commitments to motor sport, even beyond Formula One, are very broad and long-standing, so it's not a matter that they take lightly, but they have stood by us and I think that answers the question for you.
Q. (James Allen – Financial Times) To all of you: are we likely to see some testing re-introduced next year?
CH: I think it's something that's obviously being discussed within FOTA. We've got this young driver test at the end of this year and theoretically when the race drivers step out of the car in Abu Dhabi, the next time they will be in a car is at the beginning of February. I think they get approximately seven days each before the first race. That's all the testing for the year. The most important thing is that the restrictions in budget and reductions in budget that we achieved this year were significant through reducing testing and I think that what we have to look at responsibly is that if we were to introduce any testing, that it doesn't necessitate teams needing to build up the resource of re-employing test teams. At the moment, we manage to do the mileage that we do with our race team on a rotational basis but it's something that for sure will be discussed and debated.
JH: I think we're in exactly the same position as Christian. I think we'd like to do it but there are some challenges. I think it's being studied very hard and also the issue of trying to bring young drivers is another challenge associated with the reduction of testing and both those two are major issues which we think need to be resolved, but there are challenges, particularly next year.
BB: I think one of the biggest problems is the young driver problem. I think that's very real. I think that if we can find a way of introducing some testing that doesn't involve us spending significantly more money, that it can be done at marginal cost with the existing resources, then it's something we should consider. But it does have to be under those conditions.
HY: We have to be concerned about our budget as well. If we are spending too much money and if we have more testing then we have to prepare extra tyres and also manpower and logistics as well. We have to be concerned about these issues.
Q. To the three team personnel: the current engine regulations are eight engines per driver, and penalties if you use more. Do you think this rule should be tightened or do you think the teams should press for eight? Should the engine builders try for longer life engines?
JH: I think the proposal from the FOTA teams was to supply five engines per driver per race season, to achieve a lower price to support the smaller teams. But the current regulation is eight engines and honestly, because you do get a reduction in performance from the engine over mileage or kilometres, I think most people will probably be forced to go the route of supplying eight. I think it's a challenge for teams and the engine engineers. We are competing and if that's the regulation, our job is to deliver the best possible engine within the parameters that we're allowed to work in. There is a cost for the smaller teams to actually have a very reliable cheap powertrain.
BB: Any initiative that attempts to sensibly take money out of the sport is worthwhile but it has to be introduced and managed correctly. Given enough notice we can do most of these things, we can make engines live that long or even longer. Let's just do it in sensible time frames.
CH: All I would say is that when I entered into Formula One five years ago the engine bill was your biggest overhead. Now, it's well down the list, the reduction in cost of engines over the last few years, the commitment that the manufacturers have committed to and in combination with the regulations has really quite dramatically reduced the engine costs for an independent team. I think that's extremely commendable and it's made the engines available at an affordable rate with parity to your supply team.
Q. (Will Buxton – Australasian Motorsport News) For Bob, John and Christian: Nelson Piquet, as a racing driver, is saying that he obviously wants to find a way back into Formula One at some point in the future. Now regardless of who made what decision and how it all came about, would any of you give him a seat, given what's happened, and could you see anybody giving him a seat in the future?
JH: That's a question for Bob, I guess.
BB: I'm not sure I'll be giving him a seat and that's really all I can say.
JH: I think on his performance, to be honest, disregarding the issue, I probably would not give him a drive and I would probably be further influenced in that decision by what took place.
CH: I think John has summed it up. I don't think we would have any interest at Red Bull Racing.
*Fernando Alonso - 7th: "Today we couldn't do many laps because of the heavy rain, but we think it will be a dry race so we limited our running. We are happy with the car and there are no problems, but tomorrow we will start the real work and everything will be new once again for everyone."
Romain Grosjean - 14th: "With the rain today it was not a great free practice, which is a shame. I did my best to complete some laps and to learn the circuit as this is my first time at Suzuka, although in the second session I only completed a few laps. I think we will have to wait for the weather to improve tomorrow to continue with our work."
Bob Bell, Team Principal: "It has been a very wet day. We managed to run on intermediate tyres during the first session and full wets this afternoon. That has given us an idea of how those tyres work on this circuit and we also have a rough idea for the set-up of the car in wet conditions. Beyond that it was very difficult to learn very much today. The forecast suggests that it could be wet tomorrow morning, but it should by dry for qualifying and the race. Therefore we may well start qualifying running dry tyres for the first time, which could make for a very interesting session."
Bridgestone’s intermediate tyre was the fastest rubber on Formula One’s return to the challenging and technical Suzuka Circuit as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen set the fastest lap on the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The morning practice, when Kovalainen set his time, took place on a wet but drying circuit. In the afternoon, continuous rain meant that only the final 30 minutes saw timed laps and only Bridgestone’s wet tyre was used. Adrian Sutil (Force India F1 Team) was the fastest driver. Not all drivers completed timed laps.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today’s running?
“Today we have learnt that our latest specification intermediate tyre works very well here. This tyre stood up well for around 20 laps when used on a drying track. The rain through most of the second session meant no running took place for the first hour. This makes the weekend very interesting as the teams have no data from the dry tyres today.”
How do you expect the allocation to work over the weekend?
“Any data learnt from this morning using the wet and intermediate tyres will be lost in translation for using the dry tyres if the weather is better tomorrow. If it is wet then we will have a very interesting day as the grid could be determined by a wet qualifying session. If it is dry it will also be very interesting as the teams will have to learn the hard and soft tyre performance with only limited track time. This gives the teams a big challenge, not just for qualifying but also for Sunday’s race.”
First session
G. Fisichella: 4th 1.40.985 27 giri
K. Raikkonen: 8th 1.41.577 25 giri
Second session
G. Fisichella: 15th 1.49.553 5 giri Telaio 280
K. Raikkonen: 11th 1.48.886 5 giri Telaio 279
Weather
First session: air 22 °C, track 23 °C; light rain at the beginning, damp track.
Second session: air 22 °C, track 23 °C; rain.
Formula 1’s first day at Suzuka after a three year absence was marked by rain at the start of the morning session and then throughout the one in the afternoon. In the morning, all the drivers managed to get in a good number of laps, but that was not the case in the afternoon. “Even if there was no real technical reason for doing so, we decided to do at least one run at the end of the day, as a sign of respect to all the fans who remained glued to their seats in the grandstands, despite the rain,” said Stefano Domenicali. “We only ran in the wet and the car’s handling in the conditions could be described as acceptable. Clearly if, as the forecast predicts, qualifying and the race are run in the dry, there will not be much time to get the cars working at their best, which makes predicting any outcome even more difficult. For our part however, we are aware that our potential is the same as it was in the last few races, as a result of a strategic decision taken regarding the development of the F60. The unknown factor remains the behaviour of the tyres, which has never been as unpredictable as it has this season.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “The conditions were very difficult today: let’s hope the situation changes for tomorrow and that we will be able to run in the dry. This morning, the track was changing continually, so it was difficult to understand where we were compared to the others. I concentrated mainly on the car, trying to understand its handling and I think the situation is reasonably good. We will have to try everything to defend our third place in the Constructors’ classification: it will be difficult because the McLarens are very strong and in Singapore they got a great result, although they have not yet got ahead of us. How was the track after three years away? It’s impossible to compare: the tyres and cars are too different to those from 2006.”
Giancarlo Fisichella: “The day was all about the rain that however should not be a factor on Sunday, which makes everything more complicated. I am pleased with the way the session went this morning, because I quickly had quite a good feeling for the car in the wet and managed to improve with every passing lap, running at the same pace as the best. We hope to improve compared to Singapore, but we know that will be difficult.”
Chris Dyer: “This morning we managed to do a good job in the wet, first on the extremes and then on the intermediates. Both drivers were reasonably happy with the handling of the car in these conditions: if it was to rain for the race, we have a good basis from which to work. In the afternoon the rain was very heavy for almost the whole session and the track conditions were very difficult, to such an extent that it wasn’t really worth going out and risking damaging the car. Giancarlo felt particularly comfortable in these conditions, which confirms his skill level. Now, we have to take into account that the number of sets of rain tyres available to us for the whole weekend is very limited and we have to manage them carefully, to avoid finding ourselves in trouble at the crucial moment. We only did a handful of laps at the end on used tyres and we took the opportunity to do a practice start on the grid.”
Panasonic Toyota Racing had a different driver line-up for the start of Japanese Grand Prix practice at Suzuka today. Timo Glock was suffering from a very heavy cold and fever, allowing third driver Kamui Kobayashi to join Jarno Trulli in practice today. Rain throughout the day meant Formula 1's return to Suzuka after a two-year absence took place on a wet track for both sessions. Kamui, making his first appearance behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car at a Grand Prix weekend, started practice on wet Bridgestone Potenza tyres but a dry spell saw the track begin to dry so he and Jarno continued with intermediate rubber. Kamui acquitted himself extremely well with some competitive lap times in difficult conditions as the team assessed wet-weather set-ups and ran system checks. But the rain returned even stronger in the afternoon, with second practice beginning in a downpour. No running was possible at all for the first 75 minutes but both drivers did complete a late stint to gather information on track conditions. Timo is expected to return to action tomorrow.
Jarno Trulli - Car 9, Chassis TF109-06
1st Practice: 13th, 1m 42.657s, (+2.301s) 13 laps
2nd Practice: 8th, 1m 48.737s (+1.476s), 7 laps
"There's not much to say after that. Unfortunately for all our Japanese fans the weather severely limited our running today. I hope we have better weather tomorrow so we can put on a better show for them. The car didn't feel too bad in the wet but it is difficult to comment too much on it because of the conditions."
Kamui Kobayashi - Car 10, Chassis TF109-05
1st Practice: 19th, 1m 43.407s (+3.051s), 16 laps
2nd Practice: 12th, 1m 49.054s (+1.793s), 7 laps
"I only heard I would be driving today at 8.30 this morning when I was on my way to the circuit; it was a bit of a surprise because even though I knew Timo was sick, I wasn't expecting this. It was a really good opportunity for me but the conditions were pretty bad and I didn't get a lot of laps in the end. I had quite a good run in the first session and I was trying to improve step by step. It was important not to make any mistakes because I wanted to complete as many laps as possible, for me and the team. I wasn't pushing 100% due to the wet conditions but still the lap times were pretty good, especially considering I don't have much experience of this track and haven't driven here for six years. The car feels like it has improved a lot since I last drove it in February. It's difficult to judge in the wet but I was really impressed with how much development has been done in that time."
Dieter Gass - Chief Engineer Race and Test
"It was a bit of a wasted day today because the conditions were so bad and the forecast for the rest of the weekend is for better weather so there was no incentive to do much running. Between first and second practice the conditions went from bad to worse and we were only able to do one run at the very end of the afternoon session which was not particularly useful. Considering the bad weather and the fact he has not tested since the beginning of the year, Kamui did extremely well; we are very pleased with his contribution. Timo should be back tomorrow and he will not suffer from missing today's practice - unless the weather forecast changes - because it wasn't possible to do any significant preparation for dry running."
Sebastian Vettel, P1 - 1:43.218, 17th; P2 - 1:47.923, 2nd
“In P1 it was too dry for the extreme wets and by the end, also for the inters, but it was too wet for the dry tyres too. I think the general problem today for all is that teams are short of wet tyres - whatever you use today has to also count as part of your allocation for the weekend, which is why not many cars were running. In P2 there was a lot of water on the circuit at the start, so no-one wanted to take the risk of maybe doing something stupid. Towards the end of the session the rain became lighter, so we went out to check everything was good with the car. The circuit is fun to drive here, even in the wet. Let’s hope for more consistent conditions tomorrow, but I think we have a competitive package whatever the weather, so let’s see.”
Mark Webber, P1 - 1:42.332, 11th; P2 - 1:49.382, 13th
“Today was all about the conditions. We’ve only got a certain amount of wet tyres that we can use during a race weekend, so we can’t just run round in the wet for the sake of it. We have to do what we can in the laps that we have available on those tyres. The start of P2 was very wet and it wouldn’t have been possible to learn a great amount - but we did a few laps at the end of the session to get an idea of where we’re going.”
Adrian Sutil - 1st: I've had a lot of experience at this track from 2006 when I was here in Japanese F3 and I really like this circuit. It's a great track with lots of fast and high speed corners and a nice flow. We didn't get the chance to do much driving today unfortunately. It was a really easy session this afternoon - just 10 minutes and my first lap was P1! This morning we did just 14 laps and things went quite well. I was confident we would be back on the pace in Suzuka and at the moment it looks like this: overall we are looking much better than in Singapore. But still nobody really knows the score about the weather and dry set-ups so it will be an interesting weekend for sure.
Tonio Liuzzi - 3rd: Today was quite a positive day even though the weather didn't help us. It was a difficult situation and tomorrow it seems like it is going to change again. Overall the car worked very well in the wet weather conditions and also with the intermediate tyre balance and finally in the last five minutes we could try the extreme wet balance too. Everything is responding and working well, although we do know tomorrow could be different if the weather changes, but we are optimistic.
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: Two completely wet sessions today, with a large part of the afternoon being just too wet to run. This circuit has a few areas where the gradient sets up rivers and puddles that can cause aquaplaning. It was possible to evaluate both the intermediate and wet tyre performance for both drivers, and gather some data despite the conditions. Our performance in the wet looks quite strong, but of course the forecast now is for predominantly dry conditions, so there is plenty to do tonight to prepare for the weekend.
Robert Kubica - 10th: "It is really good to be back in Suzuka. The track is amazing to drive on. Unfortunately the weather conditions were far from ideal today as we could not run at all in the dry. In the morning we did a couple of laps on full wet and also intermediate tyres just to check the balance of the car. The weather conditions during the afternoon session were even worse than in the morning, as there was really lots of water on the track. Preparing for tomorrow will be a bit of a guessing game, as the weather forecast predicts dry conditions for tomorrow."
Nick Heidfeld - 17th: "Certainly there wasn't much to learn today. I feel sorry for the many Japanese fans who stayed out in the grandstands despite the nasty weather but didn't get much to watch."
Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "This was not a usual Friday. The ongoing rain throughout the whole day forced us to do a minimum programme. With this we only got a set-up for wet conditions. More was not possible today. The next two days should stay dry."
Rubens Barrichello - 20th: "As we expected, the rain came to Suzuka today and it led to an unusually quiet opening day of practice. The morning session wasn't too bad but the rain this afternoon was heavy enough to create small rivers on parts of the track and there was nothing to be gained by going out. The limited running makes for a much more interesting and challenging day tomorrow however as getting the right set-up quickly will be very important. Whether it proves to be dry or wet tomorrow, we will need to study the data from today and be focused tomorrow morning to ensure we are well prepared for qualifying."
Jenson Button - 19th: "I feel sorry for the fans at Suzuka today but unfortunately we can't get any useful information in these conditions with so much water on the track. We spent the morning session working on the balance of the car with the wet and intermediate tyres to ensure that we are prepared if the same wet weather does continue over the weekend. It was important to achieve some running and it feels good to be back at Suzuka. This is a great drivers' track so hopefully we'll get some dry running tomorrow."
Ross Brawn: "The weather conditions impacted on our practice plans today as the wet track meant that we opted for a reduced programme. We completed an installation run on the wet weather tyres this morning before Jenson and Rubens switched to intermediates as the track started to dry out over the course of the session. With a heavy downpour between the two sessions, the condition of the track deteriorated further. As the weather forecast shows a dry qualifying and race and with limited wet weather tyres, we felt that there was nothing further to be learnt from running again this afternoon."
Nico Rosberg - 16th: "Today was just a matter of trying out the tyres in order to get an understanding of where the change over points are and how the inters and full wets are working, degradation-wise. What was clear was that I pretty much destroyed the wets when the track dried out. With the information from both cars, we now have a good understanding of what is going on."
Kazuki Nakajima - 5th: "Not a great day in terms of weather, but in terms of results it was ok. We didn't get many laps in, but those we did get gave us a good platform for any potential wet weather running over the weekend. It looks positive, so hopefully we'll be in the same position tomorrow for qualifying, but in the dry, preferably!"
Sam Michael, Technical Director: "It was a fairly uneventful day in terms of running the cars due to the weather. We checked both full wet and intermediate tyres and the wet set-up. Now we'll prepare the cars for qualifying with new engines and the race gearboxes. We'll have to be conservative on the gear ratios tonight due to no dry running at all."
Heikki Kovalainen - 18th: "This morning the track was in a better condition than it was in the afternoon so we decided not to go out in second practice. We think tomorrow and Sunday will be dry so we didn't want to risk any damage to the car in these tricky conditions.
"We also felt that we wouldn't benefit at all from doing any additional running. In the morning, it was not so bad - it was drying out quite well so we could also use the Intermediate tyre, which worked well. I like this track, it has some very good corners and the grip level is very high. Obviously, the Japanese make very good Tarmac as this was also the case in Fuji!"
Lewis Hamilton - 4th: "This is the best track I've ever driven. It's something very special for me and I had a great time today, even though it was wet. We didn't do much running – we weren't supposed to be running this afternoon, but I couldn't help it: I just had to go out and have a little bit of fun!"
"I've heard it's going to be dry for the race, I'm just looking forward to getting out there in the dry and seeing how fast you can push around here."
Martin Whitmarsh - Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: "Firstly, it feels fantastic to be back at Suzuka for the first time since 2006. It's such a mighty racetrack and has clearly caught the imaginations of both our drivers. The organisers have done a fantastic job with the facility's refurbishment, creating a world-class venue without losing any of the unique character that this place has.
"And although the poor weather made it difficult to appraise our speed relative to our rivals, we're encouraged by our performance today: Lewis was immediately on the pace during every single one of his runs and Heikki finished P1, comfortably quicker than his nearest rivals.
"Nonetheless, with dry weather forecast for Sunday's race, and mixed conditions still expected tomorrow, we still have a lot of work to complete to fully prepare us for what could be both an unpredictable qualifying session and a tricky and eventful race."
Norbert Haug - Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A typical Suzuka day, really. Tomorrow's weather should be better, and on Sunday it should be fine according to the forecast. Having said that, the conditions traditionally change very quickly at this circuit.
"Heikki posted the fastest time of the morning session which nobody could improve in the very wet afternoon practice – but this of course does not mean a lot in judging the competitive order of the field after the few laps that have been done by everybody today.
"It is remarkable what the racetrack owners have invested here to improve working conditions for the teams at this great circuit, and the new pit building is absolutely state of the art."
Sebastien Buemi, P1 - 1:41.421, 5th; P2 - 1:48.691, 6th
“I really liked my first day driving this track, even though it was so wet. It’s a fantastic circuit. Anyway, it’s useful to drive in the rain and we can see from this morning’s session, when everyone went out, that we have quite a quick car in these conditions. We have some new parts so we have to be sure we don’t get any reliability problems and so far it’s been okay on that front.”
Jaime Alguersuari, P1 - 1:42.667, 14th; P2 - 1:48.802, 9th
“It was good to get a feel for the car in the wet and we made progress, even though I wasn’t pushing too hard, but at least we know how the car works on the Intermediate and Extreme wets. I felt quite comfortable and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend. I hope we get a dry session tomorrow morning, so we can improve. My first impression of Suzuka is that it’s really nice. You can feel a lot of grip in the fast corners in the wet, so I think it should be amazing in the dry. With the downforce we have and, now on slick tyres, I think everyone’s lap times in the dry will be much quicker than in 2006.”
