26/03/2021
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel: "It's very busy with less time in the practice sessions, but we were able to get a lot out of it. Every lap helps me get more used to the car and I'm able to find more of a rhythm. I'm still trying a lot of things and learning as I go, so I'm looking forward to going over the data and coming back tomorrow with the insights we have gained. The car was really promising in some corners and less so in others, but that's normal at this stage of the season. We will work tonight to find a more consistent balance. As you can see, the midfield is very tight and everyone is learning quickly, but I hope we will be a factor."
Lance Stroll: "It was great to be back in the car today and I'm excited to get racing again. Today was the first real indication of everyone's performance and you can see that the middle of the grid is very close and competitive. It was a little tricky on track with the high winds - a bit like it was in testing at times. Today's practice sessions also reminded me just how important it is to get the little details right, so we will work hard tonight and go over all the data to find improvements where we can."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "The practice sessions are shorter for everyone this year, but the goals are the same. It's about making sure you're able to complete your performance runs and race simulations. We made progress with both of those objectives, collected a large amount of information and have learned more about the car and its characteristics. We've made progress since we were here for testing, but the conditions were quite windy in the second session, and it's still not easy to have a clear picture of where we sit in the pecking order just yet. On Sebastian's side, he had a disrupted test, so it was about getting him as much track time as possible today. The more comfortable he is with the car, the more he can push. For Lance, it was a productive day and plenty of laps completed as we head into the weekend. We still need to improve our pace over a single lap and that's one of the priorities as we prepare for final practice and qualifying tomorrow."
Check out our Friday gallery from Bahrain, here.