(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Mercedes AMG F1 Team's championship leader Nico Rosberg will start tomorrow's British Grand Prix following an extremely chaotic qualifying session in Silverstone today. The German will start the race alongside fellow German, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel starting the race from second place for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Following qualifying the German said:
'It was very tight in Q1 and Q2, we were quite late going out due to the weather and then in Q3 we were quite early for the final run, but it didn’t matter as in the end the time was okay. It’s hard to know how much you can push when the conditions are like that as you’re driving into the unknown. The warm up lap shows you that it's damp and you know it will improve, but by how much is obviously determined by how much risk you take. It seems in the end I took the right amount today, so I’m happy.”
'It was very tight in Q1 and Q2, we were quite late going out due to the weather and then in Q3 we were quite early for the final run, but it didn’t matter as in the end the time was okay. It’s hard to know how much you can push when the conditions are like that as you’re driving into the unknown. The warm up lap shows you that it's damp and you know it will improve, but by how much is obviously determined by how much risk you take. It seems in the end I took the right amount today, so I’m happy.”
It was an absolutely fantastic session for McLaren's home favourite, Jenson Button as the 2009 world champion will start the race from third place on the grid, his best qualifying performance of the season. It was an extremely disappointing session for Lewis Hamilton as he was on for pole position but as the track improved towards the end of the session he bailed out of his last lap and as a result will start the race from 6th place on the grid.
It was a fantastic session for Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg as the German will start the race from 4th place on the grid for the team's home race. Following the session, Hulkenberg said:
'That worked out really well for us and I’m very happy to come away with fourth place on the grid. On days like this you just need to be in the right place, with good timing and a little bit of luck. The track conditions were changing so much and at the end of Q3 I’ve never seen a track dry so quickly. There were a few spots of rain in the middle of the session, but on my final lap it was completely dry. Fourth place sets us up nicely for tomorrow, but it’s hard to know exactly where we stand in terms of race pace. We definitely made some progress with the car balance overnight with some tweaks and it was a lot less windy today, which worked in our favour. There is an interesting grid, which will hopefully make for an exciting race for the fans.'
Kevin Magnussen capped over a great day for McLaren as the Dane will start the race from 5th place on the grid just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez will start the race from 7th place. The Mexican said:
'Today leaves us with mixed feelings. It was very good to get both cars in Q3 and ahead of some of our most direct competitors. Had they offered us this result before the session, we would have been satisfied; however, it is also disappointing as we know we could have had an even better result. We were in P3 up to the last lap, but when the track improved and I went out for a last run I ran a bit wide in turn 12 and lost all the temperature from my tyres. I also had to let some cars through and that made it a big problem for me.
Otherwise I am confident we would have improved enough to stay in the front two rows. It's a shame because we were making the tyres work really well until that moment and we were making the most of the conditions. Still, it is a very positive result and we should have a good opportunity to convert it into a good race and a lot of points. Silverstone is a very difficult place to overtake and track position is very important, so I am confident in that respect.'
'That worked out really well for us and I’m very happy to come away with fourth place on the grid. On days like this you just need to be in the right place, with good timing and a little bit of luck. The track conditions were changing so much and at the end of Q3 I’ve never seen a track dry so quickly. There were a few spots of rain in the middle of the session, but on my final lap it was completely dry. Fourth place sets us up nicely for tomorrow, but it’s hard to know exactly where we stand in terms of race pace. We definitely made some progress with the car balance overnight with some tweaks and it was a lot less windy today, which worked in our favour. There is an interesting grid, which will hopefully make for an exciting race for the fans.'
Kevin Magnussen capped over a great day for McLaren as the Dane will start the race from 5th place on the grid just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez will start the race from 7th place. The Mexican said:
'Today leaves us with mixed feelings. It was very good to get both cars in Q3 and ahead of some of our most direct competitors. Had they offered us this result before the session, we would have been satisfied; however, it is also disappointing as we know we could have had an even better result. We were in P3 up to the last lap, but when the track improved and I went out for a last run I ran a bit wide in turn 12 and lost all the temperature from my tyres. I also had to let some cars through and that made it a big problem for me.
Otherwise I am confident we would have improved enough to stay in the front two rows. It's a shame because we were making the tyres work really well until that moment and we were making the most of the conditions. Still, it is a very positive result and we should have a good opportunity to convert it into a good race and a lot of points. Silverstone is a very difficult place to overtake and track position is very important, so I am confident in that respect.'
Daniel Ricciardo had a disappointing session as the Australian will start the race from eighth place just ahead of the Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat. Jean Eric Vergne rounds out the top ten in the second Toro Eosso, Following the session Ricciardo said:
'I didn’t expect it to go quicker at the end of the session there, as the rain kept coming. We really thought the track wouldn’t get quicker, Vettel only went out as he didn’t have a time at that point. We have to learn from it I guess – I’m gobsmacked how much faster the circuit got, it must dry a lot quicker here than I thought. We’ll move forwards from there tomorrow.'
'I didn’t expect it to go quicker at the end of the session there, as the rain kept coming. We really thought the track wouldn’t get quicker, Vettel only went out as he didn’t have a time at that point. We have to learn from it I guess – I’m gobsmacked how much faster the circuit got, it must dry a lot quicker here than I thought. We’ll move forwards from there tomorrow.'
Romain Grosjean did a great job on a big day for the Lotus F1 Team and will start the race from eleventh on the grid just ahead of the Marussia F1 Team's Jules Bianchi who did a fantastic job for the Banbury based outfit out-qualifying team mate Max Chilton, although the English driver will start the race from 18th place on the grid following a gearbox change so as a result he will start just infront of both Ferrari's who had a disastrous session.
Esteban qualified in 14th for the Saber F1 Team but will start the race from 13th place. Pastor Maldonado qualified in 15th place for the Lotus F1 Team but will start the race from 14th place. Adrian Sutil qualified in 16th place for the Sauber F1 Team but will start from 15th place for the Swiss based outfit.
It was an extremely disappointing session for the Williams Martini Racing Team as Valtteri Bottas will start the race from 16th place alongside team mate Felipe Massa after the Grove based outfit timed their runs too late.
Bottas commented after qualifying, saying:
'The whole session was unbelievable. We left it too late to go out on the dry tyre so we didn’t get the run in as it started to rain again. Truthfully we were unlucky it started to rain. We had the pace to get to Q3 so we missed a good opportunity. It’s a long race tomorrow and we have a good car so we can still get back into the points, but again the weather will play its part. '
Felipe Massa said:
'It was really a missed opportunity to get the car in a good position for tomorrow. We didn’t expect the rain and the track was drying so we had to get the lap in. The moment it started raining again, that was it, it was over. We have a lot to do tomorrow and it will not be easy but the car is quicker than where we are.'
Max Chilton will start the race from 18th place just ahead of the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen who both has a miserable session for the Italian team.
Bottas commented after qualifying, saying:
'The whole session was unbelievable. We left it too late to go out on the dry tyre so we didn’t get the run in as it started to rain again. Truthfully we were unlucky it started to rain. We had the pace to get to Q3 so we missed a good opportunity. It’s a long race tomorrow and we have a good car so we can still get back into the points, but again the weather will play its part. '
Felipe Massa said:
'It was really a missed opportunity to get the car in a good position for tomorrow. We didn’t expect the rain and the track was drying so we had to get the lap in. The moment it started raining again, that was it, it was over. We have a lot to do tomorrow and it will not be easy but the car is quicker than where we are.'
Max Chilton will start the race from 18th place just ahead of the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen who both has a miserable session for the Italian team.
The Caterham duo of Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the grid for the Leafield based team. It is expected to be a dry race tomorrow so absolutely anything can happen.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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