F1 | Mexico GP | Scuderia AlphaTauri content with their performance on FP2 but declare there is room to improve, focusing on long-runs and the race.
Having finished both free practice sessions in the top six, both AlphaTauri drivers are happy with their performance today but state there is still room for improvements and focus on Sunday’s race.
The Mexico City Grand Prix is the race with the highest altitude point in the Formula 1 calendar. It constitutes a bit of a struggle for the drivers and teams, but that did not stop the AlphaTauri drivers from having a good pair of practice sessions on Friday as htey both finished in the top six for FP1 and FP2.
Pierre Gasly expressed his satisfaction with their performance today:
“I must say, I’m very happy with today. We’ve finished both sessions in the top six and there are lot of positives with the car so far, I think we can even find some more performance tomorrow.”
He also disclosed that the feeling about the slippery track isn’t great but that they are pleased they are still competitive out there.
“Looking to the race, the tyres felt pretty good as well. We know that usually here in Mexico the track isn’t so tough on the Hards, especially compared to last time out in Austin, but we’re happy with the long-running we’ve done so far, which we now need to analyse ahead of Sunday,” the frenchman added.
His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, shares the feeling of happiness and satisfaction with their performance.
“I’m quite happy with today, I think the balance of the car has been good and we’ve shown strong pace straight from FP1. We’ve obviously got the penalty, which means that our approach to Qualifying will be slightly different, but we’ve still collected a lot of important data for the engineers to analyse tonight.
"Mainly my focus is on the race, more so than the one lap pace for Qualifying, so I’ve done a lot of long-running today and I feel comfortable in the car so far,” Tsunoda added, agreeing with Gasly on the fact that their focus is on the race on Sunday.
The team's Chief Race Engineer, Jonathan Eddolls, agrees with both drivers and praies their work during the practice sessions.
“We’ve been able to hit the ground running here in Mexico, showing a good performance and completing our test plan.”
He also confirmed that the team’s plan is to focus on the race:
"Overall, it was a solid Friday, the performance is good and we still have room to improve, so we’ll give it our all to challenge for good points on Sunday.”
