Marussia Virgin Belgian GP - Spa Friday practice report

After a well-deserved break we were back in action today at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, as Timo and Jérôme took to the track for today’s two practice sessions.

In the morning Jérôme ran on his native circuit for the first time in an F1 car, but it soon started to rain and he returned to the garage, making it a quick first appearance in front of his home crowd. Thanks to the typically changeable Ardennes weather conditions, both Timo and Jérôme were only able to complete 13 laps each.

Timo Glock, Virgin Racing

Photo by: xpb.cc

The track was still damp in the afternoon but the sun was shining, which meant that Timo and Jérôme were able to spend more time on track than in the morning. But it started raining again halfway through the session and it was Timo who broke the silence and went out under these tricky conditions, unfortunately touching the white line and spinning. He recovered well to complete 23 laps and Jérôme added another 21 laps to his tally.

Timo Glock, Race Driver #24

“It’s been a typical Friday in Spa and we could say that the weather dictated the day today. We were able to drive in wet and dry conditions and the car felt good. The morning session was not too bad and in the afternoon we tried to do some running in dry conditions, which was okay. The tyres are not perfect at the moment so we still have some work to do.”

Jerome d'Ambrosio, Marussia Virgin Racing

Photo by: xpb.cc

Jérôme D’Ambrosio, Race Driver #25

“It’s great to finally drive here at my home track and in front of all my Belgian fans. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Unfortunately, the typically Belgian weather made it a difficult first day as we would have liked to have completed some more laps in dry conditions. We have to continue working hard but I feel good in the car - it’s great to be at home.”

John Booth, Team Principal

“A slightly frustrating day in some respects, as most of our planning as usual was based around a dry session and we had plenty of items we wanted to evaluate, in particular in P1. But at least we have furthered our knowledge of the Pirelli Intermediate tyres. Most of the day was centred on trying different rear wing levels, as well as trials of some different front wings. The tests of these components are perhaps not as scientific as we would like due to the changeable conditions but we have gained some useful information which we will use overnight. There is a chance of rain tomorrow in Qualifying so both drivers have had a reasonable amount of time to prepare their wet set-ups. However, with the race looking almost certain to be dry, we will have to take some decisions and compromises overnight.”