Friday: McLaren F1 seems at ease at Suzuka

Jenson Button (No. 22) – 8th and 4th

The English veteran was pleased to note the pace of his F1 from Friday, during which he is usually more reserved, even though there is still a bit of work to be done. He states: « The first session was not bad, but we were able to make some very productive changes as the track rubbered in and temperatures rose in the afternoon. Most of these changes will also help our race pace, which is also positive. »

Regarding the tires, he anticipates a demanding Grand Prix: « There is a lot of degradation – with many high-speed changes of direction, which is typical of Suzuka, and it’s very tough on the tires. This is what we expected – it’s always a challenging race. »

Kevin Magnussen (No. 20) – 6th and 8th

The Dane particularly appreciates the Japanese track where it’s easy to go off the track limits as observed today. He states: « Today’s sessions have been quite encouraging. If things stay as they are, I think we could reach Q3 tomorrow. There’s still work to be done to improve the car’s behavior on hard tires, but it’s a little better on medium tires, which gave a pretty good impression.

We improved the car all day, it’s a fantastic place to drive, the car contributes to this impression, and it handles this place quite well.