Sauber puts up the fight against weather
The German summer weather played a big part during today's practice sessions. Despite the conditions, Kamui Kobayashi was busy with aerodynamic measurements and then continued to find set-up improvements on his car. His team mate, Sergio Pérez, also did some aero testing as well as work with a new hard tyre compound from Pirelli.
Sergio Pérez, Sauber C31-Ferrari (Chassis 02/Ferrari 056):
1st Practice: 5th / 1:17.413 min (28 laps)
2nd Practice: 4th / 1:28,402 min (26 laps)
“Of course we were hoping for more dry running today, but it is good we now have some experience with both the intermediate and full wet tyres, because we might need them for qualifying tomorrow. I really hope we can put in a strong qualifying performance so we can make the most of our chances in the race. Regarding the new hard tyres we were using in the morning, I found it difficult to warm them up but overall to me they seemed to be alright.”
Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber C31-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari 056):
1st Practice: 11th / 1:18.226 min (22 laps)
2nd Practice: 13th / 1:29,785 min (24 laps)
“I was struggling a lot in the wet and I had zero grip. I suppose there was something wrong with my car and we will check that now. Tomorrow is another day and I’m positive we can be strong here.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering:
“It was another Friday of fighting with the weather. We tried to maximise our learning, and apparently we have to find the best possible compromise because the weather forecast suggests it will be wet for qualifying but dry for the race. In the morning we were able to work on measurements related to aero parts. For the afternoon we had a revised programme due to the rain. Overall it is obviously very difficult to make a judgement on today’s performance.”
