Friday: McLaren drivers focused on the race

Sergio Pérez – 6th and 10th:

« We managed to accomplish a very good program during the two sessions today. In fact, we achieved everything that was planned for today, which is very positive. As always in Monza, we tested different levels of downforce – it’s something important to do here – but it’s a tough decision to make. Clearly, we need to make the right choice for Sunday. In fact, as Jenson said, I don’t think qualifying will be so important tomorrow; the key for us is to find good settings, and a good strategy, for Sunday. So actually, we’re going to spend more time thinking about Sunday and not too much about tomorrow. I’m not even focused on Q3, because I know our goal must be to manage things well on Sunday. »

Jenson Button – 7th and 9th:

« It’s always fun to drive on such a fast track. You don’t really feel the speed; it’s mostly about getting used to the settings with the little downforce we have here. Very early in free practice 1, my DRS got stuck in the open position – we use a completely different DRS system for Monza because it’s a low-downforce circuit. The mechanism got stuck in the open position, but it was quickly fixed by the guys in the garage. Despite this problem, free practice 1 went better for us than free practice 2 in the end because we weren’t as competitive. Nevertheless, there’s a bit more pace to extract from the car, and I hope we can get it – it would be nice to make it to Q3. We changed several things between the two sessions today, and we know what works and what doesn’t. It was a positive day in terms of understanding the car, actually. There are many cars in front of us, but by very little – it’s very tight. So we are going to work hard tonight. That being said, we know the race will be more important than qualifying. »