Friday: The Sauber works well
Optimism is the order of the day at Sauber at the end of this first day. The pace shown by the C30 is good, even though some improvements are still possible and necessary.
Kamui Kobayashi – 19th and 11th:
« Overall, we have a reasonable pace but I think we can improve. We need more time to have a better setup and adjust the car’s balance. »
The level of grip was really low, especially at the beginning of the day. The track was dirty and some parts had a new surface which was difficult. I did a long stint with the soft tires and they worked well.
Sergio Perez – 7th and 17th:
I think that we have collected a lot of information today that we will need to analyze this evening, particularly on the long runs. I hope we can improve, especially for the qualifying sessions when you need to set a good lap. I also hope to feel better as I’ve caught a cold due to the air conditioning, and I hadn’t been feeling very well since Malaysia, but I’m getting better.
James Key – Technical Director:
We tested different things on the cars during the first practice session. We conducted some aerodynamic tests and gathered useful information. In terms of performance, this session was not very useful because the track offered little grip, and we only used one set of tires on each car.
In the afternoon, we used four new sets of tires and made some setup changes in preparation for the race. I think there is still a bit of work to do on the car’s balance in sector one, even though we have improved in that sector.
« I think Kamui’s lap time could have been better but he made a small mistake at the end of his lap and Sergio wasn’t able to put everything together, so we will look into that. Both cars have proven reliable but the balance here is different compared to the previous two races. »
