"Here in Qatar I immediately found a better feeling than Thailand, we struggled a bit in the last part of the session but I'm quite satisfied with this first day. We did a shakedown of the second RS-GP 2018 that we received and did some setting tests, to be ready to push tomorrow. On this track we know that there is a lot of difference between the fastest lap and the race pace, so we will work above all to find the right compromise between performance and consistency".
 

"I'm happy with how we started these three days. After the tests in Thailand I wanted to improve especially the braking phase, because I felt that the area was limiting me, and we managed to take a step forward. We haven't tested many new parts but we have identified a good direction to work on in the coming days. As I have always said, my goal is not to do a quick lap but to constantly reduce the gap with the best, the most important thing is to get ready in the race where you earn points".