Imola, Friday 16 April

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and Executive Director, Racing, Andrea Stella after Friday practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

LANDO NORRIS, #4

FP1	1m17.935s (+1.371s)	16 laps	13th
FP2	1m16.485s (+0.934s)	23 laps	8th

"Tricky day, just because it was quite messy – not from our side necessarily, but because of the yellow flags, red flags and things like that. There were also a few problems with radio and things which again weren't our fault, but made it a hectic session. Many things to work on going into tomorrow. I wouldn't say we're as confident as we were a couple of weeks ago, but I think we can make some good improvements going into tomorrow to make the car a bit nicer to drive, a bit more comfortable and give myself a bit more confidence as well. I don’t think we’re in a bad position, but we definitely have some work to do."

DANIEL RICCIARDO, #3

FP1	1m17.769s (+1.205s)	23 laps	10th
FP2	1m17.281s (+1.730s)	24 laps	18th

“It’s really cool to be back on this track. It’s pretty awesome. The day itself was a bit difficult. We’ve definitely got a few things to work on overnight to get some more out of the car. It was a challenging day, but we’ve got a session in the morning tomorrow to figure it out ahead of quali. We’ll try to address the issues today and put ourselves in a good place for tomorrow.”

ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing

“The new format of shorter sessions on Friday means we need to be very efficient to get through the programme and do all of the laps in the plan. Today we almost achieved that, but missed out because of red flags, yellow flags and VSC interruptions. There were also problems with radio and video comms that affected the entire paddock. 

“Despite these issues, it was a productive day. It’s pretty clear that there are some areas in which we have to improve before qualifying. The midfield pack seems to be very tight, and it will be interesting to see how the competitive position evolves. As usual, we’ve got to be at our best to do well in qualifying and put ourselves in a good position to score good points on Sunday.” 

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