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Panasonic Toyota Racing
Singapore Grand Prix - Free Practice Round-Up
Take Note: To prepare for racing at night, illuminated pit boards and lollipops are being used while, the steering wheel display has been adjusted and the drivers tried out different visors.
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-07)
Summary: Trouble-free sessions of acclimatisation, tyre and set-up work until a late spin at turn seven in second practice, damaging the nose against a barrier.
P1 13th Best Lap Time: 1m 47.706s (+2.188s) Laps: 27
P2 10th Best Lap Time: 1m 47.046s (+1.392s) Laps: 22
"They were both quite difficult sessions for me today. The track is really bumpy and the car is quite tricky to handle at the moment. It was a different experience driving in the lights and the whole track is a bit unusual. At the end of second practice I just lost the car when I hit a kerb and that was it, I made contact with the barrier. But that didn't affect our programme and overall we got through a lot of work today, so it was successful in that sense. So far I am not totally happy with the car and we have quite a lot to improve but I will sit down with my engineers and I'm sure we will make progress before qualifying. We will see how it goes tomorrow."
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: Spun in first session and fined Euro10,000 for crossing the white line on entering the pit lane after that incident. Otherwise concluded a programme of acclimatisation to the new track and night conditions. Worked on set-up and tyre comparisons in second practice.
P1 19th Best Lap Time: 1m 49.064s (+3.546s) Laps: 29
P2 19th Best Lap Time: 1m 48.059s (+2.405s) Laps: 28
"We have been improving gradually throughout the two sessions. We are trying to find the right set-up and we have changed quite a lot on the car. It is really bumpy out there and I struggled a little bit with driving at night because there are some dark spots which make it a bit harder than normal. To be honest the circuit is not particularly challenging for a driver because it is mainly made up of 90° corners but I hope it will be a good spectacle for the fans. In first practice unfortunately I had a spin at the last corner and I wanted to move off the racing line as safely as possible, so I decided to go down the pit lane. I took the quickest and safest option available to me and the other cars. I have been penalised and I accept that but I know I did the safest thing for me and the other drivers - it is one of the quickest corners on the track and you don't want to have a crash there."
Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test
"We should say congratulations to the organisers who have prepared a fantastic facility here. I think it is going to be a very exciting race; it is the first time Formula 1 will race in the night and all the ingredients are there for an interesting weekend. In general the track is a bit bumpier than we expected so that is something we have to adapt to and that situation is the same for everybody. In terms of running at night, we had no real issues, although the drivers were commenting that there were some areas which were a bit darker than expected, but in general it was fine. Today the track was evolving throughout, as you would expect with a new street circuit like this. Obviously it was very dirty in the beginning but then it rubbered in. We still have some work to do on the set-ups before qualifying, but we got through a lot of work today so we have plenty of data to study."
Panasonic Toyota Racing, featuring... LED There be Light
Panasonic Toyota Racing has drawn on the experiences the company enjoyed at Le Mans and in World Rally to prepare for Formula 1's first-ever night race. In particular, an illuminated pit board has been developed using the input of team members who remember well what is required to inform a driver in the dark. A series of LEDs have been added to both sides of the pit board, providing illumination for each row of information. They can be lit in any required combination, while the LEDs illuminating the driver's name flash in order to draw his attention to the correct pit board. For high-resolution, copyright-free images of the new pit board, as well as all the action from Singapore, please visit www.toyota-f1-world.com.