Quebecer Lance Stroll resolutely put aside his misadventures of the last weekend and took part in the first two free practice sessions of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Japan on Friday, and he did well on the circuit of Suzuki.
The Aston Martin rider set the 10th best time in the morning, 1 min 33.040 s, and followed up with the 11th time (1:31.771) later in the day. Victim of an accident during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix which forced him to miss the race, he said he was satisfied with his return to action, without showing excess confidence. It was especially important to get the necklace back quickly.
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“Suzuka is such a special track and probably my favorite. So, I enjoyed being here today. After the last weekend, it was nice to immediately feel comfortable behind the wheel,” he told his team’s official website.
On a technical and performance level, nothing is perfect, especially since Stroll finished relatively far from the fastest of the first two tests, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who drove in 1:31.647 in session 1 and in 1:30,688 to the next one. Fingers crossed for interesting results.
“We made some changes between the two sessions and the car was feeling good at the end of the second. Despite everything, there are surely some details to examine in order to get the most out of the whole, he mentioned. Q3 is really the goal to achieve, but we know that the field of competitors has been very tight recently, so we will have to continue to work hard.
Furthermore, his teammate Fernando Alonso achieved the sixth best time in each of the day’s two sessions. Qualifying will take place overnight from Friday to Saturday (Eastern Time), while the event will take place Sunday morning at 1 a.m.