Mechanical problems reduce Marussia's running time
The much-anticipated first free practice sessions for this weekend’s 70th Monaco Grand Prix got underway today, where we made the best of the changeable conditions to complete as much of our planned programme as possible.
Hot and sunny weather prevailed for the morning session and we were making good progress before a mechanical problem with Timo’s car reduced his running time, which was further compounded by a red flag towards the end of the session. Conversely, it was a good start to the day for Charles.
This afternoon, the objective was for Timo to make up for lost time, but the clouds moved in, producing several rain showers, which made life difficult for both drivers in the increasingly slippery conditions on a track that is typically ‘green’ anyway on the Thursday.
Timo Glock #24
“In general, the mixed conditions today made it very difficult to work on the car in the way we had planned. We got a good start to the day this morning, but later in FP1 I had a problem with the front end and then a red flag cut short the session. In FP2 it was important to go out early and get a good run, but then it started raining. As it looks like this will not be the only time this weekend, we made use of the track time and switched to the Inters, but the track was very slippery - particularly the white lines - so, to be honest, the main focus was keeping the car on the track!”
Charles Pic #25
“I have enjoyed my first day of driving in Monaco and now have some good experience in both the wet and the dry. Generally a good start to my programme with no real issues to speak about, just a straightforward day - apart from the weather - and getting up to speed. Tomorrow is a non-running day for us but it will provide a further opportunity to work with my engineers, see where I need to improve and come back to the track even stronger on Saturday.”
John Booth, Team Principal
“We’ve had a good introduction today to what is often a challenging circuit. The mixed weather conditions were not only good practice for the drivers, at a track that rewards their skill more than any other, but they also kept the engineers on their toes as they fought to get the best out of the available track time. We haven’t achieved quite as much data gathering as perhaps we would have liked and once again it seems that the preparation of the tyres will be critical to good performance here. Having said that, of the data we have collected, we are confident that we will be able to work on set-ups during tomorrow in preparation for Saturday morning, which will enable us to work towards extracting the best from the tyres for the balance of the weekend.”
