25/09/2015
NEWS STORY
There was little to learn from the Suzuka International Racing Course today as Free Practice got underway for the 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. Rain fell throughout the day, with conditions varying from damp to standing water, which meant that Full Wet tyres were the order for much of the two sessions. As a result, the team elected to complete just a handful of laps with each driver, to assess the baseline set-up of the MR03B at this circuit. The day ended with Will Stevens in P18 and new team-mate Alexander Rossi in P19, although lap times were largely unrepresentative.
Will Stevens: "There isn't too much to say about today's running. It was frustrating that the weather intervened to the extent that it did; 9 laps doesn't translate into a great deal of information and we haven't really started to dial in the car at all to suit this track. It was great to see the fans out in force however. They seem pretty unruffled by the rain, so I hope they'll get to see a little more action tomorrow."
Alexander Rossi: "It is what it is in terms of the weather, so although it's disappointing that I wasn't able to get my teeth into the programme, it's the same story up and down the pit lane. Hopefully there are a few breaks on the horizon during the rest of the weekend, and we'll look to tonight to work through a few possible scenarios to prepare for tomorrow."
John Booth, Team Principal: "One of those days where there was little to be gained from venturing out on track in what were very slippery conditions. It was important to establish how the drivers felt about the car in the brief drier windows, but there wasn't too much more that we could learn without the benefit of dry tyres. The forecast for the rest of the weekend is for mixed conditions, so we'll just have to see how the weather impacts on the remaining sessions ahead of race day, which provides perhaps our best hope of some sunshine."
Check out our Friday gallery, here.