Friday: McLaren has made progress in understanding its car

Jenson Button – 2nd and 5th

The triple winner of the inaugural event was somewhat surprised that his car performed so well but expects not to rank as high at the end of the race: « To be honest, these cars here are working better than I expected, but Sunday’s race will be very different. The long stints were not as fun as I hoped because you have to save a lot of fuel. So you have to drive very differently. You have to lift off very early and weave a lot during the lap. With little fuel, on the other hand, it’s really fun to drive. »

But Jenson Button is well aware that this may not be enough by the end of the weekend as the car’s balance is not yet good enough to exploit its full potential: « Our balance is not yet good enough. We are still struggling in high-speed corners. In low-speed corners, we are quite comfortable and all our electronics are working well. I don’t think our natural pace is as good as the current standings suggest, but we understand the car well. Overall, I would say we are in quite a good position. »

Kevin Magnussen – 8th and 9th

For his first official outing, Kevin Magnussen first sought to familiarize himself with the team’s operations during a race weekend and with the circuit: « For me, today was about getting used to everything: taking it step by step and ensuring I was always moving forward and learning all the time. I’ve watched F1 on this circuit on TV for many years. So, it’s strange to finally drive here. It was a good feeling to be there on the track. I really enjoyed it. »

The Dane is also pleased to have been able to complete 62 laps during the day’s two practice sessions, which allowed him to gather a lot of data to exploit: « I’m happy that we have a lot of good data to analyze. So I need to sit down and work hard with my engineers and the rest of the team to develop the car ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying. We think we know where to take the car from here, but there is a lot of work ahead. »