The weather played an integral role in today’s running at the Shanghai International Circuit where Super Aguri drivers Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto experienced difficult track conditions as the low cloud and high humidity added to an already heavy atmosphere following overnight rain.

All teams made the change from intermediate to dry tyres half way through the morning’s free practice session as the track started to dry out. Takuma set the 16th fastest time of the morning, a 1:43.722, just three seconds off the timesheet leader but at the end of the first fifteen minutes he was eliminated from the competition in 21st place. Added to this, he will undergo a penalty for an unscheduled engine change, putting him at the back of the grid.

“It was a difficult day for everyone in tricky conditions. During this morning’s practice session I tested wet and dry tyres, but we were not comfortable with the evaluation of the wet’s,” he said. “It was important that we completed the test though as in the end we had to qualify in the rain. At the end of session we also tested the dry tyre options and completed a few timed laps, which was good because I missed most of the running yesterday. Qualifying was like a lottery, with changing weather and track conditions which made it difficult to pick the right running time, and also a red flag situation. I am taking an engine change penalty on the grid anyway, but, wet or dry, I believe that we are ready for the race tomorrow.”

With the bad weather continuing, making for hazardous driving conditions, teammate Sakon Yamamoto was also eliminated, the young Japanese rookie disappointed with the overall result….

“I'm really disappointed with my Qualifying result because I had confidence going into the rainy session from FP3 this morning. During Qualifying we changed our strategy and ran a new tyre evaluation. But on my fastest lap there was a red flag, so I had to come back to the garage,” he said. “When I went out again there were only three minutes left and with so much water on the track there was no chance to improve on my time. Obviously the lap times are down due to the weather conditions, but my lap time today was not the best that I could have set. Whether the conditions are wet or dry tomorrow, I will just try to do my best.”

“This afternoon’s Qualifying was driven in very difficult conditions for everybody,” added Aguri Suzuki. “It was hard for us to decide on the correct tyre choice for the session and then, just before the drivers went out for their attacking laps, we had a red flag situation. This was extremely bad timing for us and we did not qualify well, but hopefully we shall have dry conditions for the race tomorrow.”