Sauber drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez were satisfied to make it through the opening day of practice without falling foul of Monaco’s pitfalls. The two finished thirteenth and fifteenth but Hulkenberg isn’t worried by those positions with the circuit likely to rubber in as the weekend goes on.
“It was a good day, and we were able to work through the programme without any issues. The balance of the car improved during FP2, and we know the track will improve and get faster throughout the weekend. We collected a lot of data, and there is still room for improvement.”
Teammate Gutierrez took a cautious approach to his first day at the famous street circuit and enjoyed the experience of getting to grips with it.
“It was a positive day in many aspects. In the first practice session, I focused on finding confidence in the car. It was quite tricky, because it’s a very narrow and bumpy track, and in the beginning, it’s very difficult to read the car. But this is something we were able to improve in the second session.
“It was important to have the reference between the two cars. It’s evident the gap to the front is quite big, and we need to find more speed in qualifying. Nevertheless I definitely enjoyed today, and we will keep pushing for the limit.”
