12/05/2017
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen: "I think it looks like we have closed the gap a little bit to Ferrari so this is a big positive, but it looks like Mercedes have brought a good update package as well so they are still quite far ahead. We are still the third team but the changes are taking us in the right direction and we have found an increase in grip. We still have a lot of work to do to improve the pace of the car and also the performance of the engine so we will keep pushing. There was a lot of unexpected wind out there which caused a few issues. I was at full lock in turn 9 and suddenly a gust caught the rear and forced me off the track and through the gravel, luckily there was not much damage. I saw a few guys get caught out by the wind. This circuit is always quite hard on the tires so the last sector is usually quite tricky but the wind definitely did not help."
Daniel Ricciardo: "There were times today where the car felt pretty good but at times we were still trying to find our way with the new package. The car was starting to come alive on the soft tyre this afternoon which was nice, but with the harder compounds we still have some improvements to make. I do see a step forward and we aren't looking too bad against Ferrari but I'm sure they will also have more to bring tomorrow. We need to keep evolving with this new package now and fully understand it. We didn't come here expecting to be as quick as Mercedes but we are feeling a bit of progress and now we just need to keep fine tuning everything to get a few more tenths out of the car. I think we are in line with what we predicted and tomorrow we will have a much better idea about whether the gap to the leaders has been closed."