The 2016 Formula One season got off to a soggy start on Friday, with rain hindering both sessions. Despite looking competitive in the damp conditions, Robert Fernley says that damp days are “frustrating for everybody”, not just the team.
Track conditions were far from ideal on Friday, as on and off rain greeted the 2016 season at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. At times, it looked as though the track was going to dry, but then the rain would return to put some more water on the track surface.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal of the Sahara Force India Formula One Team, commented on Friday’s conditions:
“They say that Melbourne is a city where you can experience four seasons in a day, and based on today there is some truth to that expression! There were some very brief windows for dry running this morning, but neither Checo nor Nico carried out any meaningful work on the soft tyre. With a risk of more rain tomorrow we made the most of the afternoon session to run the intermediate tyre and looked quite competitive in the damp conditions. On days like this it’s frustrating for everybody, not least the fans who didn’t see as much action as they would have liked. I’m sure that as the weekend unfolds and the weather improves we can make up for the limited running today and put on a good show for everyone.”
Lewis Hamilton topped both of the free practice sessions on Friday, while many other drivers found themselves in the gravel traps, due to the limited grip on the track. Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz failed to set a lap time during free practice one and neither Renault or Williams drivers were able to do so in the second session. Even Mercedes had some poor luck in the second session, as Nico Rosberg spun off.
According to the latest weather reports, there is some rain predicted for Saturday. Most of the rain is expected before noon, with the rain slowing down for the rest of the day. It’s possible for the rain to be present during qualifying, but there is no rain in the forecast for race day.
Needless to say, no one got the opening day that they were looking forward to. It’s rather sad to have such a limited running in the first day of the season, but hopefully the track conditions will improve and we will be able to see the cars put in some proper laps.
