2007 USA Grand Prix Free Practice Report
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
FP1: 22nd 1:14.810 (27 laps)
FP2: 22nd 1:14.513 (33 laps)
Christijan Albers (car 21, F8-VII/02):
FP1: 21st 1:14.636 (28 laps)
FP2: 21st 1:14.225 (30 laps)
Weather: Highs of 31 C ambient, 46 C track. Hot but overcast.
15 June 2007 - The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team has
completed a productive first day of the US Grand Prix, with
no major mechanical problems in either free practice session.
With the field very closely matched, Christijan Albers and
Adrian Sutil finished just two seconds off the fastest time
of the day.
Christijan and Adrian put in 28 and 27 laps respectively
in the first session as they focussed on tyre and set-up evaluation.
Adrian experienced a spin in the dying seconds when he put
a wheel on the grass and spun into the gravel trap, but with
no damage sustained, was able to continue unhindered in the
second session.
Despite the rapidly changing track conditions of the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, the duo bettered their times in the afternoon
session with Christijan recording a 1:14.225 lap and Adrian
less than 0.3secs behind.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
'It was an OK day. In the morning session we tried to set
up all the electronic systems and I was very happy with the
set-up of the car. This afternoon we found we could not get
an improvement from an old set of tyres to a new set and I
did my fastest lap on the harder tyre option, so the goal
for now is to understand how to get the most out of the tyres
with the set-up we have.'
Christijan Albers (car 21)
'Today was a solid day trying out different set-ups and tyre
options available this weekend. Everybody is really close,
but we still have a small gap to make up to the other guys,
so we need a push to get closer for tomorrow. As it stands,
today was a good day, but it will be even better if we can
get closer tomorrow.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'A reasonable first day for us, concentrating on tyre and
set-up evaluation. We got through quite a lot of work, even
though the track conditions evolved a lot from the morning
to the afternoon. Despite the changing conditions and relative
lack of grip, we had no real problems today. With the low
downforce we are running the car is struggling slightly for
braking stability, but apart from a spin for Adrian when he
put a wheel on the grass, we had no major issues and work
towards getting a decent Qualifying set-up for tomorrow.'
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