Jack Crawford: The vibrations are still felt

      In the first practice session in Suzuka, Fernando Alonso's car was driven by Jack Crawford, the reserve driver for Aston Martin F1. The American finished the session in last place, 22nd in the standings, but this is not surprising, as the AMR26 is likely slower than even a Cadillac. Moreover, it was Jack's first time behind the wheel of a real car, which he had only known from working on a simulator.

      Jack Crawford: "The track is simply magnificent, driving here is incredibly interesting, and all the preparatory work done on the simulator was very helpful. Taking a seat behind the wheel of a real car and immediately showing a decent pace was quite easy.

      After just three laps, I felt that I had reached the right level, but for me, this session was primarily about learning; I needed to figure out how to manage energy consumption properly.

      At the beginning of the season, we are uncompetitive, and we know that, but each session gives us new information, and even if I didn't complete many laps, it is still very useful for our team. I hope that we can improve already this weekend.

      The vibrations of the car are still noticeable, which certainly affects both the drivers and the reliability of the equipment, but we definitely want to complete the entire distance of the Grand Prix. The team continues to work with full intensity to solve the problem, and I think that we will try to finish the race this weekend.

      Suzuka is one of the most interesting tracks I have had the chance to drive a racing car on, although I can't say it's my favorite since I haven't completed enough laps. But I really liked Turn 1, and as you approach it, you use almost all the battery's energy and enter it at nearly 300 km/h. That's awesome!

      However, it was not easy to drive due to the quite strong wind, which was especially felt in Turn 7 and in the Spoon section, where it blows in the same direction. On my last lap, when I was quite comfortable behind the wheel, I started to attack more aggressively, and suddenly the rear of the car lost stability due to a gust of wind, and for the rest of the lap, it behaved somewhat nervously. But overall, it went quite well."