Ninth position each
Friday of free practice at Suzuka marked by the 9th place for Haas, with the American team seeing its drivers finish in the same position at the end of both FP1 and FP2. In the first session, Esteban Ocon set the ninth time, sandwiched between the two Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad (10th and making his debut on this track) and Liam Lawson. Different, however, regarding the outcome in FP2, where Oliver Bearman won the ‘battle’ between his Haas teammates, having finished 14th in the first session.
Read more Albon: “The P8 goes beyond our potential, right direction”
More can be done
11th at the end of FP2, Ocon released a brief statement at the end of the Japanese free practice sessions, nevertheless highlighting the team’s mood: “Today was an overall positive day. We had an excellent start, being able to test everything we wanted in FP1 and FP2. There is room to improve further tomorrow, so I can’t wait to see what we can do. It’s always a pleasure to drive on this track and in a Formula 1 car”.
Read more Gasly: “Qualifying will be a tight battle: only two tenths between 7th and 15th position”
The main objective
Also very satisfied and optimistic for the rest of the weekend is Bearman, who will have the main objective of fighting once again in the middle of the top 10 after the significant results obtained in Australia (5th) and China (7th): “It was a good day. The gap is very small and the battle in the midfield is always the same, with the VCARB team in excellent form, as well as Williams and Audi. It’s our usual battle, so we’ll try to gain some time on the lap 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 overtakes. With the new regulations, however, there will always be more opportunities, but qualifying will still remain the number one priority“.
