There were top ten place in Istanbul practice for Toyota, Williams and Renault while Jenson Button narrowly missed out.
Toyota:
Jarno Trulli: We have come to Turkey at a different time of year so temperatures are unlike what we have faced in the past. But that was a good day despite the mixed track conditions - dusty in the morning then rain in the afternoon. We made it through our programme of tyre and set-up work and we didn't have any problems. The car seems okay so far but there is still work to do in order to improve the handling. Now we have to work hard over the next two days to maintain our strong start to the season with a successful race."
Timo Glock: Both practice sessions went pretty well and the car felt good throughout the day. I also had a strong long run with competitive lap times. Graining and understeer were challenges today. On a late run I went off the track and couldn't stop the car from hitting the kerb and damaging the front wing. It was my mistake and I missed the last five minutes but it was nevertheless a good first day. I've had some successful races here in GP2 but it's difficult to overtake so qualifying is important this weekend. Our target has to be to get into the top ten tomorrow, as I did in the first two races this year."
Williams:
Kazuki Nakajima: Practice was good for me today. In the morning I struggled a little with the grip levels because the track was really slippery, but it improved a lot in the afternoon. The rain at the start of the second session prevented me from carrying out some of my scheduled programme, but I did at least do a tyre compare which has given us some useful information. We're looking in reasonable shape for tomorrow's qualifying; there's still some work to do tonight on set-up, but I'm happy."
Nico Rosberg: We covered quite a lot of ground today, especially on the aero side. We have definitely made some progress and are taking the right direction, but we are not 100% there yet. It was quite slippery out there, and not easy to keep the car on the track, but I don't think the temperatures here are causing us too many problems, which is a plus."
Renault
Fernando Alonso: The track conditions were certainly not ideal today, buy they were the same for all the teams and did not disturb our programme too much. As usual we worked hard and I was able to evaluate a lot of things with my car and gathered some interesting information. We still have to make a few more improvements tomorrow, especially with the general balance of the car, but today's performance is encouraging for the rest of the weekend."
Nelson Piquet Jr: My day was pretty normal. I had quite a busy programme with set-up work this morning and tyre testing in the afternoon. The aim was to feel at home in the car and to try to improve the balance, and we managed to do this because we did not have any problems during the two sessions. The track conditions were relatively stable, even though it rained a little bit at the beginning of the afternoon. Overall I think that we have prepared well, and I am determined to make the most of the final practice session tomorrow."
Honda:
Jenson Button: "The car was nicely balanced in the morning and we were pleased with our progress. However, we made a mechanical change over lunch which changed the balance. It was too big a change to go back in the time available so we have some work to do overnight to understand what has changed. We should be able to get the car back to how it felt this morning, then I believe we have a good chance of getting through to Q3 tomorrow."
Rubens Barrichello: "The car was nicely balanced in the morning and we were pleased with our progress. However, we made a mechanical change over lunch which changed the balance. It was too big a change to go back in the time available so we have some work to do overnight to understand what has changed. We should be able to get the car back to how it felt this morning, then I believe we have a good chance of getting through to Q3 tomorrow.
"Most importantly, when I'm in the car, it's a normal weekend for me. It's fantastic to have the celebrations here, with all my family and the team, but on the track nothing changes. When I began my career back in 1993, I never thought that I would break this record, but now it really means a great deal to me."
