Thursday: A first normal day for Sauber
Sergio Pérez was discovering the Monaco track at the wheel of a Formula One car. The Mexican driver is satisfied with his first day, even though he complains about the bumps at certain points of the circuit. Kamui Kobayashi believes that his car was bouncing too much on these bumps. Nevertheless, the team considers that they had a normal first day of testing.
Sergio Perez – 16th and 12th:
It was a good day for me. We had a busy schedule and we got a lot of work done. In the morning session, we had some difficulties with the tires because we went out early and they quickly dropped in performance. In the afternoon, I tried the super softs for the first time and did a long stint with them. I really hope we can achieve a good qualifying. With a Formula One car, it’s even more difficult to overtake here in Monaco than it was with a GP2 single-seater.
Kamui Kobayashi – 15th and 16th:
«For me, it was a bit of a difficult day. My single-seater was bouncing a lot, the balance wasn’t good, and I didn’t have enough grip. We need to find something to get rid of these bounces. It was so bad that I couldn’t do the tire comparison work. As for the rear wing, I would say there’s no big difference with or without it, except that it keeps you busy. Overtaking is extremely difficult here. »
James Key – Technical Director:
« We had a normal first day of practice here in Monaco. As is usual at the start of a Grand Prix weekend, the grip was very low. In the first session, we went out early with both cars to give the drivers a good chance to adapt, but it also means that the tires were degraded earlier.
The new suspension parts we brought to the car are working well, as expected. In the afternoon, we compared the different types of tires. The soft and the super soft. We did long stints with both and they are performing well.
