A ninth position each
Free practice on Friday Suzuka in the name of 9th place at home Haaswith the US team seeing its drivers place in the same position both at the end of FP1 and FP2. In the first session, the ninth time was set Esteban Oconsandwiched between the two Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad (10th and making his debut on this track) and Liam Lawson. Different, however, as regards the outcome in FP2, where the winner of the ‘challenge’ between the Haas teammates was Oliver Bearmanwho had instead ranked 14th in the first session.
More can be done
11th at the end of FP2, Ocon released a brief statement at the end of Japanese free practice, however highlighting the team’s state of mind: “Today was one overall positive day. We had a great start, being able to test everything we wanted in FP1 and FP2. There is room to improve further tomorrowso I can’t wait to see what we can do. It’s always a pleasure to drive on this track and behind the wheel of a Formula 1.”
The main objective
Bearman is also very satisfied and optimistic for the rest of the weekend, who will have the main objective of once again fighting in the middle of the top 10 after the notable results obtained in Australia (5th) and China (7th): “It’s been a good day. The gap is very small and the battle in the middle of the pack is still the same, with the VCARB team in excellent form, as well as Williams and Audi. It’s our battle ever, so we’ll try to gain some lap times during the night ahead of tomorrow. Last year it was very difficult to overtake here and it was perhaps one of the races with the fewest overtakings. With the new regulations, however, there will be more and more opportunities, but qualifications will still remain the number one priority“.
