Mercedes Indian GP Friday practice report

Formula One made its debut in India today with the first two practice sessions for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix taking place at the new Buddh International Circuit on the outskirts of New Delhi.

• Michael and Nico completed 118 laps of the 5.125 km circuit, which equates to over 604 kms of running
• After acclimatising to the track layout, much of the team's programme focused on race preparations for Sunday
• The drivers also evaluated the two Pirelli compounds available here; the prime (soft) and option (hard) compounds

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

Nico Rosberg

"The new track here in India is awesome. It has some very interesting corners, and that's why it takes a bit longer to get used to the layout than at some of the other new circuits. Turn two for example is very different; you come from downhill, then go up looking into the sky and so you see the hairpin very late, just before you arrive. In general we had two good sessions and learned quite a few things today so I have a good feeling for this weekend. Hopefully that feeling will continue tomorrow."

Michael Schumacher

"This is a very interesting track with a challenging layout, and it's certainly enjoyable to drive. As we expected, off-line it is extremely dusty but the racing line became quite grippy over the day. This morning, I was happy with the balance of the car, however this afternoon was more challenging for us. We weren't really able to get into working properly for various reasons, including the red flag, and therefore tomorrow we need to work on the set-up for both qualifying and the race."

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

Ross Brawn

"We've had a useful first day of practice around the new Buddh International Circuit today. It's always interesting to explore a new track for the first time, and the grip levels changed a great deal during the two sessions, so the trick will be anticipating where they will be by the race on Sunday. The majority of our programme today focused on race preparation and the car seems in reasonable shape. It's exciting to face a new challenge here and I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities this weekend. We've been very impressed with the new track layout and the drivers seem to really enjoy it."

Norbert Haug

"First of all, congratulations and compliments to the Indian Grand Prix organisers for building this state-of-the-art race track which certainly does not need to hide behind the best ones in Europe. It is a pleasure for Formula One to be here in India; the friendliness of the Indian people is overwhelming and the excitement to have a Formula One World Championship event in their country quite obviously and understandably makes them proud. Our programme today concentrated on race simulations during the afternoon. We learned a lot and gained experience which should help us tomorrow and on Sunday."

Weather: Warm & sunny Temperatures: Air: 25-30°C - Track: 30-39°C