McLaren intends to « knock on the » door of Q3
McLaren enjoyed a profitable Friday in Sochi. Both Fernando Alonso's and Jenson Button's cars were generally on the pace of the top ten, and still have room for improvement in qualifying.
Fernando Alonso experienced no reliability issues and managed to place his car in the top 10 during the second free practice session. He is quite optimistic after this encouraging Friday: « Getting at least one car into Q3 tomorrow would be good news for us. I think it’s possible. I know that in the past our results on Friday have made us perhaps a little too optimistic about our chances on Saturday, but the car behaved well today. We are not at 100% today—there is always a little more to expect from the McLaren. (…) The balance of the car was not optimal in some corners. (…) I think we will be able to maximize our potential tomorrow. »
Jenson Button ranked 8th on Friday afternoon, just a tenth behind 5th place, Daniel Ricciardo. It was a positive day overall, the Englishman naturally rejoiced. We have been quick in previous Fridays, and we know we have the prospect of saving fuel during the race, but fortunately, we will be able to knock on the door of Q3 tomorrow and be capable of scoring some points on Sunday. The Briton also already has some ideas on the ideal race strategy: The circuit tends to be quite easy on the tires – we are able to do a large number of laps with them. I think everyone is considering a one or two-stop strategy in the race – more likely one. I think it will be an interesting weekend.
Eric Boullier, the competition director, finally emphasized the work accomplished on Friday: « During the morning, we undertook significant work on aero settings and development, which made the search for balance quite difficult, with both drivers complaining about the car’s unpredictable behavior and a lack of confidence at the wheel. Fortunately, we worked well and made good progress after the lunch break. » In sum, the Woking team experienced a Friday as normal as can be.
