2022 Miami Grand Prix – Free Practice "I think every little bit of time can be the difference between a few positions"

Miami International Autodrome, Friday 6 May

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

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 FP1 1m32.615s (+1.517s)  26 laps  11th 
 FP2  1m30.535s (+0.597s)  20 laps  6th 

"A reasonable day, if a bit tricky. There’s a few challenges for us to overcome. First of all, the ambient temperatures are tough. The track grip is quite low when you leave the racing line, and it’s quite bumpy in places, so it’s a difficult track because of that. But despite that, we made some good progress throughout the day.

"Hopefully we can make another step into tomorrow and gain even more. It looks very close, between everyone, from the front to the back. Everyone is much closer than they have been lately, which is tough, but hopefully we can just squeeze a bit more performance. I think every little bit of time can be the difference between a few positions. It's going to be a tight qualifying, so every little thing we can get out of the car into tomorrow will be helpful."

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FP1 1m32.592s (+1.494s)  21 laps  10th 
FP2  1m31.208s (+1.225s)  23 laps   12th 

"It’s cool to be on a new track, although it was challenging as the surface is quite unique and different. It’s not the easiest to get into as just going offline, you lose so much grip. I like the first sector, that’s cool, but the real tight stuff in the middle I think is just a bit too tight for how big the cars are now.

"Overall, we’ve got to work on a few things tonight; just the usual things for a new track, trying to discover and learn, and just try to find a sweet spot for tomorrow."

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ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing

"This race weekend in Miami is really interesting, and not only because of the new location and new track. There’s lots we need to understand and optimise in order to get a good result. The asphalt seems to have some interesting features, and the tyre behaviour is not that obvious. The hot conditions also pose some challenges for set-up, and we need to be on top of those.

"We have some work to do, understanding the data we have collected today. We’ll do that overnight in order to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow. We’re expecting a relatively eventful race on Sunday and we need to be ready for whatever opportunities that presents."

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