Racing Bulls had a day of highs and lows in free practice for the Formula 1 Japanese GP at Suzuka. While Liam Lawson made good use of the sessions, Arvid Lindblad faced technical issues that prevented him from participating in FP2.
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“It was a bit of bad luck today. We had a gearbox problem in FP2, which is why I couldn’t run during the session”, Lindblad said.
Team principal Alan Permane confirmed the issue and assured that a new gearbox will be installed for the next FP3 on Saturday: “We had an internal failure in the gearbox on Arvid’s car on the out lap for FP2. We understand what happened, but we’ll put a new gearbox in for tomorrow. Track time is obviously important here, so we apologize enormously to Arvid”, Permane said.
Despite the setback, the team principal highlighted that the team’s performance remains competitive in the midfield: “In terms of performance, we’re well in the middle of the group. A tenth one way or the other could put us at the top or the bottom of the midfield, so it’s super tight, but that makes tomorrow’s qualifying session even more exciting”, concluded the team principal.
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Lawson, who finished FP1 in eighth position and dropped to 12th in FP2, praised the team’s learning pace during the day: “It’s great to be back at Suzuka and I had a really pleasant day. Things are quite different compared to last year with these new cars. We made some changes between FP1 and FP2 as we were struggling at high speeds, but we managed to improve the balance and learned a lot in the process”, said the New Zealander.
Lindblad highlighted that, even with the complicated day, there are positive signs regarding the car: “Both Liam and I started with a similar setup in FP1, but we found the same limitations in the car, so we decided to go in a similar direction to try to improve and he became more comfortable, which is promising for tomorrow”, he said.
Racing Bulls’ focus is now on maximizing performance for the qualifying session. Lindblad also emphasized the fun of driving at Suzuka and looks forward to increased grip on the track: “The track is really fun to drive, and I’m looking forward to when grip increases, especially in the qualifying session. It’s hard to know where we stand at the moment, but the midfield is very close”, he added.
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