2021 Styrian Grand Prix – Free Practice "I think we can be confident we have a decent car, but it's going to be tight no matter what"
Red Bull Ring, Friday 25 June
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Executive Director, Racing, Andrea Stella after practice for the Styrian Grand Prix.
DANIEL RICCIARDO, #3
| FP1 | 1:06.669s (+0.759s) | 38 laps | 12th |
| FP2 | 1:05.748s (+0.336s) | 35 laps | 2nd |
“So, a good day. I’d say strange. Strange because we were expecting a lot of rain, especially this afternoon and it didn’t quite arrive. We weren’t expecting two dry sessions. Whether that’s going to stay for the weekend, we’ll see.
“I think it was a productive Friday for sure. In the morning we were a little off the pace. We made a few adjustments for the afternoon and I think that was better. Obviously, the time sheets certainly show it was better. We made a step in feeling and confidence in the car, but I do feel there’s another step we need to make to stay in a strong position for tomorrow. A bit of fine-tuning tonight but otherwise we should be pretty good. I’m happy with the day and we’ll go from there.”
Styrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring
LANDO NORRIS, #4
| FP1 | 1:06.861s (+0.951s) | 35 laps | 16th |
| FP2 | 1:05.994s (+0.582s) | 39 laps | 7th |
"A positive day. We started FP1 not looking too good, but we made some changes and definitely made the car better going into FP2. Hopefully we can make another step into FP3 and gain even more lap-time, but it’s going to be extremely close. It's all about putting the lap together and doing that consistently. I think we can be confident we have a decent car, but it’s going to be tight no matter what."
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ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing
“It’s been a productive Friday. Despite there being rain around, it didn't affect the programme and we could go through our run plan. That revolved around set-up work, some aerodynamic tests and, of course, understanding the tyres in preparation for the race – we saw in France what a difference tyre degradation can make. Overall, the car seemed reasonably competitive. We’ll keep an eye on the weather – which remains unsettled – but we’re looking forward to qualifying and the race.”
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