Romain Grosjean set the third fastest time on the opening day of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, with Kimi Raikkonen third in the morning and eighth in the afternoon after a productive day of running at the Hungaroring.
Both cars ran with the teams slimline bodywork configuration and without the Device for what was both drivers first taste of the latest medium and soft compound Pirelli tyres.
Technical Programme Notes:Both cars ran with new mirrors, rear floor updates and exhaust configurations.Pirellis medium compound tyre was used in the morning, the medium and soft in the afternoon.Cooling levels were monitored closely in the high temperatures.
What We Learned Today:Setup was modified for the latest specification tyres.Soft tyre performance and long run performance were both favourable today, with evident areas for performance gains tomorrow.
Kimi Rikknen, E21-03Free practice 1: P3, 1:23.010, 20 lapsFree practice 2: P8, 1:22.011, 32 laps
Kimi: It wasnt ideal today but it wasnt that bad either. We took a bit of time to understand the new tyres and it was also very hot. Its too early to say if the heat will suit us with these new tyres, but well soon have a better idea. I had some traffic in the afternoon and so wasnt able to set a fast lap on new tyres, plus we have some areas to improve on with the setup. Well try to do the best that we can in qualifying and well see where we are. If we get the car right we should be ok tomorrow.
Romain Grosjean, E21-02Free practice 1: P5, 1:23.111, 20 lapsFree practice 2: P3, 1:21.417, 40 laps
Romain: Its been a good day overall. I didnt get to try the new tyres at Silverstone so the main focus was to work on getting the most from them which all went ok. To be honest theyre not really night and day from the old ones, which is good as it means we havent had to change too much. Theres still a bit of graining and degradation to deal with but thats normal. Our pace looks pretty good on both compounds, but the field is quite close so its hard to say where we are. Well just keep doing our best to find the right compromise for qualifying and the race and see where we stand at the end of the weekend.
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
A good solid Friday for us with nothing untoward to notesave for a leaky drinks systemduring the course of the day. The car is clearly working well here and we have no concerns about the heat. Kimis afternoon time isnt representative as he got caught up with a McLaren on his fast lap and we have no concerns about our long or short run pace. We paid particular attention to the various temperature levels on the car to ensure cooling levels are sufficient for Sunday and were happy with all the data weve seen so far.
Click here for the Official Kimi Raikkonen web site - designed and built by Racecar
