Friday: McLaren seems to be regaining its form in Abu Dhabi

Sergio Pérez – 10th and 6th:

« It was a productive day for the whole team – I felt really comfortable in the car during both sessions, and I really enjoyed being on track today. I was happy with my car, and I don’t expect to make many changes. Usually, we change a lot of things between Friday and Saturday to improve balance and settings, but I don’t think that will be the case tonight. The soft tires work much better than in India. Even though I think I’m more comfortable with the softs, it will be difficult to make a one-stop strategy work on Sunday. Tomorrow, I’d like to see us get into Q3. »

Jenson Button – 8th and 7th:

« It was a good day in understanding the car. The direction chosen for the settings seems pretty good as well. I think both types of tires work well here too. I set my best lap on my first attempt with the softs, which few people managed to do, so I’m happy with that. My long runs turned out to be more challenging, though – firstly, because of the traffic, and secondly, because of the delay we had due to an issue we thought was a puncture, which actually turned out to be a sensor problem. As a result, I had to come back to the pits slowly, and then I lost track time because we had to change some parts of the car that had overheated after that slow lap. But overall, I think we are in good shape here. »