De Puniet struggling to get up to speed
Randy de Puniet admitted he was having difficulty adjusting to the 2009 Bridgestone tyres and LCR's latest Honda after struggling throughout the first test of the season in Malaysia
The French rider was never higher than 13th during this week's Sepang test, and was between two and three seconds off the pace on all three days.
De Puniet has a reputation as a one-lap specialist and achieved some excellent qualifying results on Michelins last year, but was frustrated to be so far from the front-runners at Sepang.
"We improved the lap time but it's not enough for me: last year I was fourth here in the same test session," said de Puniet.
"This morning we took a step forward and I knew I could improve more in the afternoon but we suffered some brake problems and we skipped the session for more than one hour.
"Today I feel more positive than yesterday but I need more time to adjust the bike."
De Puniet had said on Friday that he could not ride with confidence at present.
"We tried many things to adjust the setting but I still struggle in corner entries," he said.
"I cannot face the curves as I normally do. If I push a bit more I can easily crash and this is very frustrating."
Share Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
"You're not allowed to make a difference" – Verstappen says the fastest F1 drivers are penalised
Russell: Data shows software calibration behind recent F1 struggles, not driving style
Mercedes identifies Russell's F1 power unit software issue
Aston Martin's Hungarian GP upgrade is big – but not as big as F1 insiders expected it to be
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments