Formula 1 News: 2024 Italian GP Friday Practice Quotes
Quotes from all ten Formula 1 Teams plus tire supplier Pirelli after the two Friday practice sessions for the 2024 Italian GP at Monza.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton – FP1: 1:22.214, P7; FP2: 1:20.738, P1
“I’m happy that Kimi was OK as that was a big accident. The main thing that matters is that he was OK. In terms of our car performance, it’s been a good day. This new tarmac and the smoother curbs have presented an interesting challenge, but the car has felt good from the start. There seemed to be some graining up and down the field in FP1 and people struggling with the tires. We made some solid changes ahead of FP2 and the car took a step forward in that final hour. There’s still some work for us to do overnight both here and at the factory, particularly around the long run, so we can be as competitive as possible over the rest of the weekend.” Hamilton topped Practice 2
George Russell – FP2: 1:21.086, P6
“Firstly, I’m glad to see that Kimi was OK. It’s never nice to see a crash that size and the first thing that matters is that he wasn’t hurt. The mechanics did a great job to get the car ready for FP2. We got a good 30 minutes of running before and after the red flag so a big thank you to them.
“The car seems to be looking good. Lewis did a great job to top the timing screens. I had a couple of push lap efforts at the end of FP2 but was mainly focused on the long run. The resurfaced track meant that it looked to be ramping up quite a lot throughout the day. We need to be alive to it evolving over the rest of the weekend. We’ve got a lot of good data to go through, even though it wasn’t the most productive Friday I’ve ever had on my side.”
Kimi Antonelli – FP1: 1:23.955, P20
“It’s been quite a day here in Monza. Unfortunately, my first FP1 session ended quite quickly with a big crash. It was measured at 52G, so it was a heavy one. I am not feeling 100% so I will have an easy night this evening and rest ahead of the rest of the weekend. I am sorry to the team and to George as it is not how we wanted the hour to go. It was a pure mistake from my side where I was pushing just a bit too hard for the conditions. I should have built into the speed more progressively and it is something I will learn from.
“I am still thankful to the team for making it possible for me to drive in FP1. It was great to drive in front of the tifosi and be on track with all the other drivers.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We’ve had a busy day here in Monza. Kimi’s accident luckily didn’t do any damage to him, but the car took a big hit. Repairing it ate into George’s session a little bit. That cost us some learning but we’ll hopefully recover that ground in FP3 tomorrow.
“Lewis had two strong sessions. The car seems to be working well, but there is not much to choose between the top few teams; it all looks very tight and from today’s data there doesn’t seem to be more than a couple of tenths separating the front of the field. For the race, managing the tires looks like it is going to be a challenge. The new surface is causing quite high degradation and as soon as you push hard, the tires start to drop. It is not an easy track to employ the necessary management without leaving yourself vulnerable to being overtaking, but it should lead to an interesting race.”
Red Bull
Max Verstappen – FP1: 1:21.676, P1; FP2: 1:21.610, P14
“We tried quite a few things today, FP1 felt decent and then FP2 we had good learnings from the long run. This track is aggressive on tires, so it will be quite interesting how the track will evolve for the race as well. We were trying different setups in both sessions but couldn’t get it locked. At the end of the day, that is what practice is for and we want to learn a bit more about the car. We have a few good directions to take with the setup, we just need to tidy everything up a bit. It is going to be quite close between a few teams, and hopefully we will be right in that mix tomorrow in Qualifying.” Verstappen topped Practice 1
Sergio Perez – FP1: 1:22.311, P9; FP2: 1:21.678, P15
“Unfortunately, we had to change the gearbox on my car between FP1 and FP2 as a precaution and the mechanics worked very hard to get my car ready as quickly as possible for the afternoon session. It is a big job to do in that timeframe and the work had to continue a little into the start of FP2. The delay meant we are a bit on the back foot and the session plan was very disrupted. We had a few mechanical issues because we had to put the car together quickly, so we just have to wait and see what the car is doing when we look at the data and then we will have a few things to get on top of. The long run probably looked a bit more promising and given that it was a mechanical issue it should be easier to sort out, but it means Saturday won’t be as simple as we hoped for. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to make a big step, especially over one lap and be able to fight in the race on Sunday.”
McLaren
Lando Norris – FP1: 1:21.917, P3; FP2: 1:20.741, P2
“An okay first day on track today. FP1 wasn’t great as I felt a bit uncomfortable with the car. FP2 was better but we’ve got to make some progress overnight ahead of Quali tomorrow. I’ve got some areas to focus on with my driving in FP3, but we’ve got a good starting point to work from as a team.”
Oscar Piastri – FP1: 1:22.199, P6; FP2: 1:20.858, P4
“We had a decent Friday, I think the pace looks pretty solid. It’s going to be very difficult on the tires for everybody, so we’ll work hard to make sure we’re ready to maximize our performance, and we’ll see what happens on race day. I think it’s going to be a pretty interesting race compared to what we might normally have in Monza.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“Both sessions today were pretty busy. We had a lot of work to do to acquire data, and confirm our aerodynamic upgrades. We also worked to understand the tires on this new tarmac, which seemed to show that they behave differently when compared to the past. As usual in Monza, we were also trying to nail the set-up for the long straights while also saving some grip in the corners. This year it looks like the tarmac is a lot smoother, which offers some opportunities from a set-up point of view. We have plenty of work to do, but overall, it was a positive couple of sessions. We’ll review all of this data and prepare for the remainder of the weekend, which looks very, very tight from a competitiveness point of view, with the usual four teams in condition to fight for the podium.”
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc – FP1: 1:21.904, P2; FP2: 1:20.892, P5
“It was quite a positive day overall. Our performance is good, driving the car felt nice and the upgrades we brought to the car are working as expected. Our main focus will now be on balance, as there is still some margin for improvement on that side.
“The race on Sunday will be tricky for everyone, especially because of the new asphalt, so tire management will be key. We are closer to our competitors than we were in Zandvoort, however, they are still very strong and we will have a lot of competition tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz – FP1: 1:22.126, P4; FP2: 1:20.841, P3
“It was a very busy and interesting Friday. The Monza track has changed quite a lot, with very different curbs and a new surface. For this reason, the challenges and limitations are quite different from previous years and we had to adapt to a new scenario in terms of car setup and understanding tire degradation.
“There is quite a lot of work to do tonight in order to improve for tomorrow but overall, it was a positive start to the weekend.”
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso – FP1: 1:22.315, P10; FP2: 1:21.316, P9
“Every circuit has its own character, and racing in Monza always feels special. The track was smoother and less bumpy than last year due to the new tarmac. A lot of data has been gathered in the two sessions, so we will now analyze it and review it corner by corner to try to maximize the potential on track for the car tomorrow.”
Lance Stroll – FP1: 1:22.864, P16; FP2: 1:21.363, P10
“It’s good to get back out on this track – it’s a great circuit and I love being in Italy. We made a few changes to the car following FP1 and it felt better in FP2; I think we’re moving in the right direction but there’s still some work to do overnight. The resurfaced track had more grip and was less bumpy, so it was definitely kinder on the body!”
VCARB
Daniel Ricciardo – FP1: 1:22.605, P12; FP2: 1:21.300, P8
“It was a good day and the car felt strong. Monza’s a cool track, some circuits you enjoy more than others and this is one. It’s a bit different with the new asphalt, and as we saw with other drivers, grip can be a little hard to find. It’s challenging but fun. I’m happy with today and think we’ve built a good foundation for the weekend. There’s not much to change overnight, we understand the car and we’re in a good place. I felt a good level of comfort in the car, but there’s always something more to find.”
Yuki Tsunoda – FP1: 1:22.714, P13; FP2: 1:21.735, P16
“It was a bit of a difficult day for us, and I think there are still a lot of things to understand. There have been a few changes to the track, it’s been resurfaced which felt smoother and nice to drive. Also, the curbs have changed, allowing us to drive slightly more aggressively. It was just the first day; the engineers will have a look through the data overnight and hopefully, we’ll find some room to improve ahead of tomorrow.”
Alan Permane, Racing Director
“A decent day for us but there’s a little bit of a difference across our cars. Daniel finished the day reasonably happy with his balance, but there is still some margin to improve. It’s always difficult here in Monza, with the low downforce, when the cars have less grip in the corners and are skating about. As for Yuki, he didn’t have a great FP2 because we made an error in the set up with his car and we apologize to him for that. His Medium run was compromised and when the set-up was correct, he could not set a representative time on his Soft tires as there was the red flag. He’s got too much oversteer, so we will work on that overnight for FP3.”
Kick Sauber
Valtteri Bottas – FP1: 1:22.127, P5; FP2: 1:21.461, P11
“It’s always nice to be back racing in Monza, and to do so with a pretty straightforward, productive day. We went through our program as expected, and this allowed us to work on fine-tuning our car between the two sessions. We definitely seem to be in a better place on this track compared to Zandvoort, and the feeling is that Monza suits our car better – it was nice for all the team to have a positive day after last weekend. We won’t get carried away, it’s still Friday, and it’s just Free Practice: we need to make some more improvements ahead of tomorrow. We expect everyone will make a step overnight, and we’ll need to make one too; if we achieve that, we’ll at least be able to get in the mix.”
Zhou Guanyu – FP1: 1:22.854, P15; FP2: 1:22.223, P20
“It’s always a pleasure to return to such an iconic track and to take stock of the work that has been made on the circuit: clearly, a lot of effort has gone into smoothing out bumps and resurfacing the circuit, which made the early laps important to get new reference points. FP1 went well, but FP2 was a bit more difficult. We’ll look into it with the team tonight and try to be prepared for tomorrow. I believe there’s quite an opportunity to optimize the setup and extract more performance; and the performance of Valtteri, who has some upgrades on his car, is also promising. The team will put in a lot of work tonight to analyze the data and be ready for qualifying.”
Haas
Nico Hulkenberg – FP1: 1:23.157, P19; FP2: 1:21.140, P7
“It’s been a good Friday. It’s still the Monza that we know despite the new curbs. Of course, it’s a bit different in the detail here and there but I think the old DNA of the track is still there and coming through. I had a good feeling with the car straightaway this morning and had some decent running in FP2, especially in the heat. I think tires are going to be a big subject on Sunday during the race in terms of management and graining, but at the moment I feel good. Tonight, we’ll try to further optimize the most competitive package on the road. In the midfield, we’re fighting a lot of teams and there are very fine margins, so in qualifying execution is going to be key and it will be important to stay clean.”
Kevin Magnussen – FP1: 1:22.572, P11; FP2: 1:21.499, P12
“I lost it on entry into the corner carrying too much speed and had a moment on the rear. It was a pretty snappy moment, I wasn’t quick enough to catch it and spun off into the wall. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of damage to the car; we have to change the front wing, but we’ll go again. It’s not what you want to do, I missed out on my long run which always has useful data but we’ll make it work. Often with new tarmac there’s high grip but it’s very peaky grip – so when you have a moment – it’s going to be big and you have to be quick to react and catch it. We have a positive feeling with the car and with outright pace, but it’s so tight that it could turnaround so you have to be very clean and just nail it.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“It was a big challenge with the new track surface, but I think we reacted pretty well. We anticipated from our track measurements and made certain decisions on the set-up for FP1 – which I think we overcooked a little bit – but then from driver comments and what we see on the data, we adjusted well for FP2. Both drivers are happy with the changes we made for FP2 so that was a good job and recovery from everyone concerned.
“Our low-fuel pace was decent. It’s really a shame that Kevin overcooked it at the Lesmo corners and had a shunt because he lost his front wing, so he won’t be running the new-spec front wing tomorrow, and Nico will continue to run the new one. We continued to improve our high-fuel pace from FP1, and although we have a bit more work to do, we’ve made a good step.”
Williams
Alex Albon – FP1: 1:22.220, P8; FP2: 1:21.592, P13
“Today felt mostly strong except for our Soft tire run in FP2, but other than that, everything else was pretty good. We’re in a decent place but it’s close out there and we definitely have some work to do. I think tomorrow will be a trade between Qualifying and race pace; there’s a lot of graining going on right now and it’s hurting the tires a lot. In terms of getting the one lap performance and also the long run performance is a bit of a challenge, so let’s see what sweet spot we can find.”
Franco Colapinto – FP1: 1:22.880, P17; FP2: 1:21.784, P17
“I’m very proud to have completed my first Friday as a Formula 1 driver. There are things to work on with the team but overall, it was a good first day. Instead of going for lap times, I focused on myself by building up everything throughout the sessions. I was careful in FP1 as I wanted to put the laps in. On the long runs, I’m still trying to understand how to keep the tire alive for longer and find that sweet spot. I felt a lot more comfortable in FP2 as I was trying to find the limit and was more consistent which was a good step for my confidence. I’m super grateful to everyone in the team for helping me get up to speed this weekend.”
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director
“As expected, the track was quite dirty in the beginning of FP1 and the grip was low. As all curbs are new as well, FP1 was all about learning and understanding how the tires are behaving on this new surface. Both drivers felt comfortable with the car from the start. Alex’s pace on the Medium tire was encouraging and Franco used both sessions to build up his confidence and pace. We’ve seen that there is a lot of graining in the long runs across the field so it will be key to find a balance between Qualifying and race performance.”
Alpine
Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:22.880, P18; FP2: 1:21.867, P19
“It’s always exciting to come to Monza, one of the highlights of the whole season. We haven’t had the best start to the weekend so far and just simply didn’t have the pace today, so we will have to work hard overnight to find improvements. We are trying lots of different things at the moment to find more performance but still seem to be struggling quite a bit. We got some good running today and have gathered useful data, so we will keep digging hard overnight. The whole team is putting the work in, in order for us to find more performance. But this might be another tough weekend for us at this track. We continue to push and with the track changes, hopefully there will be some opportunities tomorrow. We need to make sure we come prepared for any opportunities.”
Pierre Gasly – FP1: 1:22.763, P14; FP2: 1:21.819, P18
“This morning was tough and this afternoon, with the set-up work, it was looking better on the Medium tires. However, we didn’t get to do a lap on the Soft tires with a red flag and some traffic. I didn’t manage to do a representative lap on the softer compound, so I think that there is more to come tomorrow. As we expected on this track, we have no other choice than to be perfect for a chance to get into Q2 in Qualifying tomorrow and challenge the cars in front of us. There have been a few changes to the track and, on my side, it was just a matter of getting used to them but driving-wise it is very similar. The tarmac we will have to keep an eye on Sunday for degradation, I think that this is the biggest change to before. Tomorrow will be challenging but I’m confident that we can improve the car and find some more performance. The field is extremely tight, and we will have to be perfect tomorrow.”
Pirelli
Simone Berra, Chief Engineer
“There have been plenty of interesting points this Friday. The big unknown going into the weekend was the state of the all new track surface, which is the main novelty of this Italian Grand Prix. From what we could see today, we can say that the results of prior simulations were generally confirmed, with a very significant level of adhesive grip. This factor, combined with this track requiring a low aerodynamic load, may have accentuated the graining effect which was quite marked on both compounds used. Obviously, we have no real indications regarding the Hard, as just one driver used it to complete only 17 laps. However, this is a clear indication of the direction in which the teams might go with regard to tire usage over the rest of the weekend. At this track, the length of the pit lane and the time taken to change tires means that a two-stop strategy comes with quite a penalty, so the most likely scenario is that the teams will still try to manage the Medium and the Hard so as to do just one pit stop, keeping a second hard set for a potential Plan B if degradation because of graining is still very significant in the race.
“It is therefore a question of graining: we will have to see how the track evolves as from tomorrow morning, the more laps the Formula 1 cars and those of the other categories do and the track rubbers in. Another important factor to consider will be the temperatures. It was very hot today with the track reaching 54 °C, theoretically at about the time of the middle of the race on Sunday. Such high temperatures could have a further impact on degradation. We have seen that the track is quicker than last year and it became even more so during the sessions, more significantly during FP1, a bit less so in FP2. It will be interesting to see what will happen in this regard tomorrow, starting in FP3.”
