US GP Friday Arrows notes

OrangeArrows drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Jos Verstappen enjoyed their debut at the Indianapolis circuit as they familiarised themselves with the track during free practice today. During the first hour, Jos set the fastest speed in that session of 218 mph through the speed trap at end of the 926 metre long straight. He was able to greatly improve on his lap time during the second session, finishing 5 places higher in 13th with a lap time of 1:16.572. Pedro enjoyed a trouble free practice, finishing 18th after 42 laps and a lap time of 1:16.787.

Pedro de la Rosa
"Both sessions went pretty well and we did plenty of laps which was the main objective. We learned the track layout quite quickly and then concentrated on the car set up. We made many changes to the car in between sessions and the car was much better during the second session. I am not happy with my time and I have to improve for tomorrow otherwise we will be too slow. One of the things that has surprised me about this circuit is the low grip on the infield. The banked corners are okay and you can go flat without any problems. The infield is quite slow and the track quite slippery. I think if it doesn't rain though and we keep putting more rubber on the track it will get better and better, but at the moment it's not brilliant. The circuit is good and I like it - there is a lot of rhythm. You seem to be working hard all the time as just as you get out of one corner you go into another, but the long straight is good to relax a little bit".

Jos Verstappen
"I think it was exciting to go out on this circuit, especially with the banked corner which we are not used to. The first lap did feel a bit strange as you go through that corner as there are vertical g-forces, not alot but you feel the difference. It's a nice corner and at a high speed you can overtake on the outside. Then there's the long straight which is very nice and good for overtaking. The corners on the rest of the circuit are a bit different to normal - the first corner is fine, but there are some which look very tight but then they open very wide so you have to adapt to that and set the car up for those corners, but it is a fairly challenging circuit and I like it very much. During the first session we were experimenting with different set-ups and down force settings as we found that we were miles too quick compared with other cars and that's why I was experiencing low grip, so for the second session we tried different tyre pressures and the car got better and better. The car feels good and I think we need a bit more time to set it up but we also tried different tyres and I was quicker on those. I did another timed lap that was equal to my previous best time but then on the second timed lap of the run I spun off and checked out the gravel traps and they were good as well! Hopefully the weather will stay fine like now as I think that will be much better for the crowd. I am definitely looking forward to the race".