(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Mercedes once again showed that they are the team to beat this season as Nico Rosberg claimed his second consecutive pole position leading an all Silver Arrows front row with Lewis Hamilton starting alongside the German. It was great session for reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel as the Red Bull driver will start the race from third on the grid. The German said:
'The start of the last lap wasn’t great. I still didn’t manage to get that first sector right, I didn’t get along with the first two corners very well today. But, after that I tried to take more risk and it worked, so sector two was very good through the two chicanes, especially through the second one; I found a significantly better line and more time compared to previous runs. I then kept it together until the end, so a very good result. It was the maximum we could do – we were very close with those behind, half a second behind the Mercs, but then four cars were within four to five hundredths of a second of each other, so I’m happy to be the quickest of those. Strategy could be a bit of a surprise tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see what happens but Williams is strong here and the Mercedes powered cars will be looking forward to the straights. I will try to stay as close as I can to the front two and get some tow. If we have a chance to attack them, then we should go for it.'
'The start of the last lap wasn’t great. I still didn’t manage to get that first sector right, I didn’t get along with the first two corners very well today. But, after that I tried to take more risk and it worked, so sector two was very good through the two chicanes, especially through the second one; I found a significantly better line and more time compared to previous runs. I then kept it together until the end, so a very good result. It was the maximum we could do – we were very close with those behind, half a second behind the Mercs, but then four cars were within four to five hundredths of a second of each other, so I’m happy to be the quickest of those. Strategy could be a bit of a surprise tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see what happens but Williams is strong here and the Mercedes powered cars will be looking forward to the straights. I will try to stay as close as I can to the front two and get some tow. If we have a chance to attack them, then we should go for it.'
The Williams Martini Racing Team were the stars of the session as Valtteri Bottas put in a fantastic display for the Grove based outfit and will start the race from 4th place just ahead of team mate Felipe Massa. The Finn said:
'We need to be happy with the result. It was really, really close. On the last run there was some traffic which cost the opportunity to improve the time, but luckily I had done a good lap on the first run in Q3. We’ve been competitive all weekend so I’m looking forward to the race. I’m very happy with the car, we’ve made so much progress. I know we can challenge Red Bull here and we have great straightline speed, so we’ll see. '
Massa was happy with his performance in qualifying with the Brazilian saying:
' It was a good session, definitely our car shows good performance. It was very tight from position three to six, with five cars in one tenth, so P3 was possible. Unfortunately I didn’t have the perfect lap and it wasn’t enough to be third, but I cannot be disappointed. I feel really happy for the car we have. The race is long so let’s try to do a good one tomorrow, I’m confident we can have a good, competitive race.'
The team are in a strong position to pull away from McLaren in the Constructors championship as Jenson Button will start the race from 9th place while Kevin Magnussen will start the Grand Prix in 12th place just behind the Sahara Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who will start the race from eleventh.
'We need to be happy with the result. It was really, really close. On the last run there was some traffic which cost the opportunity to improve the time, but luckily I had done a good lap on the first run in Q3. We’ve been competitive all weekend so I’m looking forward to the race. I’m very happy with the car, we’ve made so much progress. I know we can challenge Red Bull here and we have great straightline speed, so we’ll see. '
Massa was happy with his performance in qualifying with the Brazilian saying:
' It was a good session, definitely our car shows good performance. It was very tight from position three to six, with five cars in one tenth, so P3 was possible. Unfortunately I didn’t have the perfect lap and it wasn’t enough to be third, but I cannot be disappointed. I feel really happy for the car we have. The race is long so let’s try to do a good one tomorrow, I’m confident we can have a good, competitive race.'
The team are in a strong position to pull away from McLaren in the Constructors championship as Jenson Button will start the race from 9th place while Kevin Magnussen will start the Grand Prix in 12th place just behind the Sahara Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who will start the race from eleventh.
Daniel Ricciardo will start the Canadian Grand Prix from 6th on the grid starting just ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who will start from 7th place. Ricciardo said:
'It was a bit scrappy on the final run, we made a couple of adjustments and it didn’t quite work out – but that’s hindsight! We were close to third, but not close enough and we paid a bit of a price by being sixth. We’ve made progress throughout the weekend and we were not too far off, but it’s disappointing to just miss out. The times were close, but it could have been better. Hopefully we can get a good start tomorrow and see how we go, the strategy will be interesting.
'It was a bit scrappy on the final run, we made a couple of adjustments and it didn’t quite work out – but that’s hindsight! We were close to third, but not close enough and we paid a bit of a price by being sixth. We’ve made progress throughout the weekend and we were not too far off, but it’s disappointing to just miss out. The times were close, but it could have been better. Hopefully we can get a good start tomorrow and see how we go, the strategy will be interesting.
Toro Rosso's Jean Eric Vergne did a great job to get his car into the top ten shoot out and will start the event from 8th place while Jenson Button was left disappointed and will start the race from 9th place at the venue where the 2009 champion scored his most memorable Formula One victory in 2011.
Kimi Raikkonen's tough start to his Ferrari return continued in qualifying as the Finn could only manage to secure 10th place for his 200th Grand Prix so he will be hoping for a better performance in the race tomorrow.
Sergio Perez will start the Grand Prix from 13th on the grid for Sahara Force India which means that the Mexican along with his team mate Nico Hulkenberg can choose the tyre's they want to start the race on.
Speaking about his performance in qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg said:
'I was close to making the top ten – just half a tenth would have made the difference, but I think we’ve known since yesterday it was going to be quite tight in qualifying. Having said that, P11 is a good starting position: it gives us some flexibility in terms of the strategy; I get to choose my starting tyres, and I’m feeling quite optimistic about our race pace. The pack is very close in terms of performance but it should be an interesting race because it’s a circuit where overtaking is possible and history has shown that anything can happen here.'
Perez commented:
'It was quite a tricky qualifying session that turned out to be a bit harder than we expected. I’m starting P13, but I’m still feeling very positive about our chances in the race because this is such an unusual track where you can move up the field and take advantage of whatever happens in the race. We have good top speed and that will certainly be important tomorrow. I think we have shown already this year that Sunday is what counts and I’m confident that we can score points and beat some of the cars ahead of us. We will need to get the strategy right - it's always a choice between one and two stops here and we'll need to evaluate which one gives us the best chance for the race.'
Sahara Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley said:
'It was a very tight qualifying session today. Starting in P11 and P13 means we are not in bad shape, but some of the teams around us seemed to have the edge today and we just missed out on Q3 by a small margin. In terms of car performance both drivers are feeling comfortable and the set-up changes made overnight moved us in the right direction, which gives us every reason to feel more optimistic for tomorrow. The race pace of most of the mid-pack teams has been quite similar and we are certainly up there and in contention to race for some good points on Sunday.'
Romain Grosjean put in a good display for the Lotus F1 Team and will start the from 14th place and will be hoping to pick up some more point's for the Enstone based outfit.
Speaking about his performance in qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg said:
'I was close to making the top ten – just half a tenth would have made the difference, but I think we’ve known since yesterday it was going to be quite tight in qualifying. Having said that, P11 is a good starting position: it gives us some flexibility in terms of the strategy; I get to choose my starting tyres, and I’m feeling quite optimistic about our race pace. The pack is very close in terms of performance but it should be an interesting race because it’s a circuit where overtaking is possible and history has shown that anything can happen here.'
Perez commented:
'It was quite a tricky qualifying session that turned out to be a bit harder than we expected. I’m starting P13, but I’m still feeling very positive about our chances in the race because this is such an unusual track where you can move up the field and take advantage of whatever happens in the race. We have good top speed and that will certainly be important tomorrow. I think we have shown already this year that Sunday is what counts and I’m confident that we can score points and beat some of the cars ahead of us. We will need to get the strategy right - it's always a choice between one and two stops here and we'll need to evaluate which one gives us the best chance for the race.'
Sahara Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley said:
'It was a very tight qualifying session today. Starting in P11 and P13 means we are not in bad shape, but some of the teams around us seemed to have the edge today and we just missed out on Q3 by a small margin. In terms of car performance both drivers are feeling comfortable and the set-up changes made overnight moved us in the right direction, which gives us every reason to feel more optimistic for tomorrow. The race pace of most of the mid-pack teams has been quite similar and we are certainly up there and in contention to race for some good points on Sunday.'
Romain Grosjean put in a good display for the Lotus F1 Team and will start the from 14th place and will be hoping to pick up some more point's for the Enstone based outfit.
Daniil Kvyat was left disappointed after his team mate Jean Eric Vernge qualified in 8th place as the Russian will start the race from 15th place just ahead of the Sauber F1 Team's Adrian Sutil. The German said:
'Once again, this was not an easy qualifying. However, we made it into Q2 this time, which is a small success, although the performance has not really improved. After qualifying we are basically where we were this morning. The car is difficult to drive. We need more downforce and have defeciencies in most areas. The driveability in qualifying was not optimal. It was very tricky to control the car with the throttle, because it is very nervous. So I ended up in P16 for tomorrow. We will do our best.'
His team mate Esteban Gutierrez will start the race from the back of the grid after missing Qualifying due to the team having to replace his chassis after his crash this morning.
'It was a disappointing day, after we also had some troubles on Friday. Concerning what happened today, we have to further analyse what caused the problem. I came into the corner with a little bit of oversteer, then later something happened and I lost the car completely. We have to find out whether this happened through what I did, or something I had identified earlier. We have to analyse further what caused the incident. I know that it’s going to be a lot of work to rebuild the car for tomorrow, and I would like to thank the team for the hard work ahead of them. Tomorrow is another day, and I will do my best.'
'Once again, this was not an easy qualifying. However, we made it into Q2 this time, which is a small success, although the performance has not really improved. After qualifying we are basically where we were this morning. The car is difficult to drive. We need more downforce and have defeciencies in most areas. The driveability in qualifying was not optimal. It was very tricky to control the car with the throttle, because it is very nervous. So I ended up in P16 for tomorrow. We will do our best.'
His team mate Esteban Gutierrez will start the race from the back of the grid after missing Qualifying due to the team having to replace his chassis after his crash this morning.
'It was a disappointing day, after we also had some troubles on Friday. Concerning what happened today, we have to further analyse what caused the problem. I came into the corner with a little bit of oversteer, then later something happened and I lost the car completely. We have to find out whether this happened through what I did, or something I had identified earlier. We have to analyse further what caused the incident. I know that it’s going to be a lot of work to rebuild the car for tomorrow, and I would like to thank the team for the hard work ahead of them. Tomorrow is another day, and I will do my best.'
Pastor Maldonado will start the race from 17th place in the second Lotus E22 just ahead of the Marussia F1 Team's Max Chilton in 18th place while Jules Bianchi will start the event from 19th place Kamui Kobayshi will start the race from 20th place for the Caterham F1 Team just ahead of team mate Marcus Ericsson who brought out the red flag with 15 seconds to go in Q1 after losing the rear of his car and hitting the wall at turn 5.
Gutierrez will start at the back for the Sauber F1 Team.
© Ben Johnston 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment