Unsatisfactory first day for the Sauber squad
The team had a full programme to go through during the first two free practice sessions ahead of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone. Besides the usual evaluation of the two tyre compounds and the job of getting familiar with the new 800 metres long loop in sector three, the team also used a new front wing and lost some track time because of a technical problem on Kamui Kobayashi’s car.
Kobayashi was 14th in the second session, and Pedro de la Rosa was 17th.
Kamui Kobayashi: C29.02 / Ferrari 056
1st Practice: 15th 1:34.710 min (16 laps)
2nd Practice: 14th / 1:33.402 min (23 laps)
“After we lost some track time we tried to catch up with the programme, and I think we managed that quite well, especially with the short runs. We obviously have to improve our pace everywhere, but I found the balance of the car not too bad. I had only a little understeer and I think we can fix it with some set up changes. The tyre situation with both compounds looks okay to me. The new track section is a bit bumpy and dusty, but it will get cleaner.”
Pedro de la Rosa: C29.04 / Ferrari 056
1st Practice: 16th 1:34.901 min (17 laps)
2nd Practice: 17th / 1:34.051 min (29 laps)
“I must admit it was not an easy day for me. The front end of the car doesn’t react the way I want it to. I really have a lot of understeer. It is worse in the very high and very low speed corners. I find it difficult to make the car turn. We have to look into the data now and find a solution.”
James Key, Technical Director: “It was a fairly busy day. In the beginning the track was quite slippery, and therefore we did not get much work done in the first session. The new lay out of the circuit looks quite good, but there is also a significant difference in grip level between the old and the new part. The problem on Kamui’s car, which occurred at the very end of the first session, initially appeared to be engine related. Now it looks like it was an electronic issue, which we only found at the beginning of the second session. However, our main target is now to find the right balance for low and high speed consistency.
