During the press conference that took place on Thursday in view of the next round of the 2023 Formula 1 season, the Belgian Grand Prix, several drivers discussed a burning issue: given the terrible weather conditions, could the first free practice session be in real jeopardy? Considering that it would be the only practice session, as the Spa-Francorchamps weekend features a sprint race format, the drivers would have no opportunity to try out the track before the afternoon qualifying session.
The topic emerged during the traditional Thursday press conferences, that were held at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot. The drivers tried to find a solution to this problem in case it turns out that the FP1 session is too risky to be held.
Esteban Ocon attempted to provide an answer: “The weekends with sprint races are always a bit special for us and all the teams. There’s only one session where you can actually test the car and understand if something is wrong. The rest of the sessions are all qualifying or races, so it’s impossible to conduct tests in those cases. Obviously, we know that Spa is a complex weekend, different from the others. That’s why we always prepare the weekend with great care at the simulator. Knowing that it was raining, we did as many tests as possible to get used to the track in case the first free practice session was canceled.” – the Alpine French racing driver explained.
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