In Abu Dhabi, Robert Kubica returned to the wheel of Formula 1, having worked out the first practice session at Alfa Romeo instead of Guanyu Zhou. In the second part of the free races, the Chinese rider set the thirteenth fastest time. His teammate Valtteri Bottas ended the afternoon session with a tenth result.
Valttery Bottas (10th): “Good start to the weekend – the day went off without a hitch, so we did a lot of laps and tested everything we had planned. The balance of the car was good from the start, so we didn’t make any major adjustments and focused on fine-tuning, especially in the second session, which took place under the same conditions as tomorrow’s qualifying.
I finished both practices in the top ten – a promising start. We looked pretty strong in several previous races – this is a good sign. Hopefully we can keep up the momentum.”
Guanyu Zhou (13e): “I am quite satisfied with the past day. During the second practice I drove the C42 on this track for the first time and the car drove well from the start, so I didn’t have to do many laps to find the rhythm.
I felt quite comfortable in the fast series. We have worked from a great distance to identify weaknesses. I am confident in our qualifying pace and I see no reason to prevent us from getting the most out of the car and taking high places at the start.
The innovations we introduced a few races ago have made the car better, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Robert Kubica (14th in the first session): “It’s always nice to get behind the wheel again. I’m happy with my performance, especially considering I flew a C42 last time in Hungary.
I drove an LMP2 car last week and it takes me a while to get used to the different technique each time, but surprisingly everything went well, especially on the hard tyres. At the end of the first session I had time for one fast lap, which turned out to be quite difficult.
I was happy with the car and we soon realized what needed to be improved. The day proved to be productive and gave the team confidence for the remaining sessions of the weekend.
Source: F1 News
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