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Practice report

German GP: Top 10 drivers quotes after Friday free practice

Teams concentrate on Soft and Supersoft tyres duringfree practice in Hockenheim.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

XPB Images

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 Team
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF16-H
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-31
Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-31
ClaDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGapInterval
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Mercedes 43 1'15.614    
“A good start to the weekend. It's great to be back here in Hockenheim at this historic track. The tarmac is old, so the way the tyres work is completely different to in Hungary where the tarmac was new. Here it's much more snappy and more of a challenge. But in general our car was working well out there today. Saying that, in Hungary we were very quick on Friday but then on Saturday and Sunday everyone was very close. So, we are warned by that to not get over-excited on a Friday. It's a good start but we'll see more tomorrow.” 
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 36 1'16.008 0.394 0.394
“It's been a very chilled Friday. The weather has been good and the track feels great. It's the original track surface, so it's nice and bumpy and has lots of character. We had a fairly straightforward two sessions today. No real surprises and a good first step for the weekend. We'll see where we are in qualifying tomorrow.” 
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 39 1'16.208 0.594 0.200
“Overall the outcome of the two sessions has been positive, but we still need to improve our car overnight and do some steps forward. I think the one-lap speed was ok, I haven't seen much from the long runs, I have spent most of the afternoon on Soft tires and they were lasting quite long, so I think overall it was ok but we still have to improve. We have to work on the set up of the car, and bring it a bit better together, so that the car feels better for me on track and it suits my driving, then I can attack better and more. As for the new rules on radio communications, it makes it easier for us, in terms of remembering, so I think it is a straightforward decision.” 
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 40 1'16.456 0.842 0.248
“A good start to the day and weekend in general. The first session I was learning the lap with the car, we had a bit of front locking that we will hopefully get rid of tomorrow. The second session was good, definite progress from the first as I continued to learn the track and get used to the car here. Everyone knows this track is quite hard on the tyres so no real surprises there. We are not too far off Mercedes, we are matching Ferrari and the long runs were all pretty positive. We will have to wait and see how some of the rules work, from what I have heard in general it shouldn’t be too bad. I think the radio rules make it nicer for the fans so they can hear what is going on and not just listen to commentary. I think the fastest way around the track is within the track limits so we will try and keep to that. I don’t mind what the other drivers have said about last weekend, I’m happy and confident with my driving and defending, they can talk to me if they want but I don’t feel any pressure from them.” 
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 38 1'16.490 0.876 0.034
“I enjoy the track around here actually. It’s cool and it’s got pretty good flow. The last sector is fun, but it’s tricky with the tyres. You’ve got some tight corners which seem to be harder on the rear tyres but then the last sector has got a lot of longer corners where you can hurt the front, so trying to balance the car isn’t always easy. But I felt we got on top of it more in FP2 so I’m pretty happy where we are now. We looked quite close to the Mercs on high fuel so that was promising. This afternoon’s race stint looked really good so if we can replicate what we did then on Sunday I think we can have a strong chance in the race. I’m obviously trying to keep up with all the rule changes but I’ve never been too fussed really. I think if it’s the same rules for everyone then let’s go and race and deal with what we’ve got.” 
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 45 1'16.512 0.898 0.022
“On Friday it's always difficult to have a clear idea of where you are, from tomorrow we'll understand more, but the session today was not too bad. For sure there's some work to be done to improve, but more or less we are about there. Obviously we want to be in the front, so this evening we are going to focus on fixing some things and improve in certain areas, then I'm sure we'll be ok.” 
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 43 1'16.781 1.167 0.269
“I am pretty happy with today and it was a fairly straightforward start to the weekend. We ran all morning on the medium compound, which looks like a good tyre, and we worked with the soft and supersoft this afternoon. The pace looks alright and I felt pretty comfortable in the car, especially in the second session as the track improved. There’s obviously still quite a bit of work to get where we want to be, but overall it’s a positive start and I am looking forward to building on it.” 
8 Jenson Button McLaren Honda 16 1'17.087 1.473 0.306
“I was driving down the pit straight when I got something in my eye. It wasn’t stuck in my eye, but it was a foreign body, which the hospital washed out and removed. It scratched my eye, so I’ve been given some eyedrops – but all is good. I don’t know what it was – maybe a piece of carbon dust, which has happened to me before. The session was okay – the car didn’t feel too bad at all – but I had to stop early because of the problem. The aim for the remainder of the weekend is to be up there behind the top three teams.” 
9 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 44 1'17.148 1.534 0.061
“It think we were the only team to run the medium compound today alongside the soft and supersoft, which allowed us to get a lot of data about each of the three different tyres. The mediums are performing quite well, which is a bit of a welcome surprise. It’s still early, but I think the weekend has a lot of potential and we’re in a good position to make the most of it. There are still some areas to improve when it comes to car balance, but we should be able to sort it overnight after looking at the data we collected.” 
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 21 1'17.225 1.611 0.077
“It was a nice way to celebrate my birthday here with the team – we spend 200 days a year alongside each other, so that was a fantastic feeling. I now need to focus on the weekend and help improve our pace a little. We felt competitive straight away in the first session – more than in the second, where we lost some performance. But we might need to go back on some set-up changes and find a way to improve the car for tomorrow. For this weekend, we need to be realistic: there are three teams that are a little bit quicker than everyone else, then, behind them, there’s a close fight. If we want to beat our direct competitors, we need to get everything right – but that’s likely to prove a little more difficult than it did in Hungary. Still, I’d hope and expect that we can score points on Sunday.” 

 

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