Miguel Oliveira revealed that he did not use a new tyre in the first practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which conditioned his pace on the first day of practice in Sepang. Something he hopes will not happen on Saturday.
"It was a strange day… We chose the strategy of not putting on any new tyres at the end of the first free practice session," Miguel Oliveira told. "But the truth is that we also did not expect all this rain in the afternoon. It was a little unexpected in that sense, but we can't control that. So, what we can't control, we adapt. That's what we did."
And the adaptation went well, as Miguel Oliveira revealed that in the second session, with the wet track, he felt "a little better" with the bike than in the first session, which gives confidence for Saturday.
"Today does not take away our confidence, as Binder, with the used tyre, was slightly slower than me. With the new one, he managed to make that step forward. That makes us a bit more relaxed when it comes to the fast lap. I think tomorrow we will go much faster than we did this morning.
Miguel Oliveira also pointed out that the forecast does not indicate rain for FP3, which means that the Portuguese will have the opportunity to do the session "dry".
"In the afternoon we already have a more uncertain forecast…. What is certain is that if it rains, it will be the rain that fell this afternoon, meaning that everything will be delayed again and we will have to hold practice a little later."
In fact, Miguel Oliveira said that the schedule delays due to external factors do not bother him, quite the opposite.
"As I said earlier: what I cannot control, I adapt. With the delays, we have a little more time, we have to keep taking water, hydration, nutrition, make all this adaptation to train a little later. I believe that these changes don't bring any factor that has to be worked on with a different psychological approach, but we have to be ready to go out at any time."
In the end, Miguel Oliveira confessed that he only wishes "to have a normal new tyre to understand where our bike is and its level", something he will only get in Saturday's FP3.
