(Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team)
Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team's Nico Rosberg will start tomorrow's United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin taking his ninth pole of the season setting a fastest time of 1m 36.067s to end the session just 0.376s ahead of championship leader and team Lewis Hamilton.
Following the session Rosberg stated:
'That was really a great team effort today. Starting from pole here in the US is obviously good – but it’s tomorrow that counts so there is still some way to go. Together with my engineers we found a great setup which made me feel very comfortable in the car at the end of Qualifying.
At the beginning of Q1 I had a lot of understeer but we had different opportunities to explore in terms of changing that. We decided to change the front wing flap angle which worked out perfectly, so I was really able to push a lot through the corners. Now I look forward to tomorrow as I had some good long runs on Friday which allowed me to focus a bit more on the race with my setup.'
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton commented on the qualifying session saying:
'It wasn’t the easiest of qualifying sessions for me today but I’m still starting from second place and we can have a good fight from there tomorrow. The problem was with the left front brake which was down on temperature and kept locking.
Once you lose that confidence and rhythm under braking, it’s very difficult. It is a potential issue for the race but I’ll talk to our guys now and we can have a good look at it. Hopefully we can try and sand down the disc a little and then tomorrow should be better.
The vibration that I had was just a minor flat spot so I’m not worried about that. Nico did a great job this afternoon and at the end I couldn’t get close to him so I’ll have to try and make it up tomorrow in the race.'
Following the session Rosberg stated:
'That was really a great team effort today. Starting from pole here in the US is obviously good – but it’s tomorrow that counts so there is still some way to go. Together with my engineers we found a great setup which made me feel very comfortable in the car at the end of Qualifying.
At the beginning of Q1 I had a lot of understeer but we had different opportunities to explore in terms of changing that. We decided to change the front wing flap angle which worked out perfectly, so I was really able to push a lot through the corners. Now I look forward to tomorrow as I had some good long runs on Friday which allowed me to focus a bit more on the race with my setup.'
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton commented on the qualifying session saying:
'It wasn’t the easiest of qualifying sessions for me today but I’m still starting from second place and we can have a good fight from there tomorrow. The problem was with the left front brake which was down on temperature and kept locking.
Once you lose that confidence and rhythm under braking, it’s very difficult. It is a potential issue for the race but I’ll talk to our guys now and we can have a good look at it. Hopefully we can try and sand down the disc a little and then tomorrow should be better.
The vibration that I had was just a minor flat spot so I’m not worried about that. Nico did a great job this afternoon and at the end I couldn’t get close to him so I’ll have to try and make it up tomorrow in the race.'
Mercedes Executive Director (Business) Toto Wolff stated:
'That was a great qualifying result – especially after we had some problems with Nico’s car during practice this morning and with Lewis’ car yesterday afternoon. Nico put in a perfect lap while Lewis was struggling with relatively large amounts of front locking during the session.
Since we secured the Constructors’ Championship at the last race in Sochi, we haven’t been taking anything for granted and have kept pushing. There has been a lot of talk about the momentum between the drivers in recent weeks but the reality is that we’re watching an equal fight at the very highest level – and this is a great thing for Formula One.'
Following the session Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe commented saying:
'It’s brilliant to secure the front row after this morning’s practice session proved rather problematic – especially on Nico’s side of the garage – so congratulations to him for two successive laps good enough for pole position in Q3. Well done also to Lewis, who had some problems with front locking but still delivered some impressive laps.
As the pressure mounts and we home in on the final races of the Championship, it’s great to see this fascinating battle between our two drivers and we’re looking forward to a good race tomorrow. Tyre endurance will be a much more significant factor than it was last year and we may see a variety of strategies and variations in pace during the race.'
It was a fantastic session for the Williams Martini Racing Team duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa as they will start the race from third and fourth place on grid for the Grove based outfit so are on course to extend their hold on third place in the Constructors championship.
Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo will start the race from 5th place in his RB10 while team mate and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel will start the race from the pit-lane following a power unit change for the German. Speaking following the session Ricciardo stated:
'I’m pretty happy with the top five, realistically we’re fighting for the last spot on the podium, if Mercedes have a clean race, and we’ve put ourselves in a good position for that.
We were close to Felipe, but hopefully the clean side of the grid will help me out a bit, so we’ll see what happens. I’d say we’re better on tyres than the Williams, but their straight line speed makes that advantage disappear. Hopefully we’ll have some good clean battles on track tomorrow, the circuit certainly allows for that and provides some good opportunities, so hopefully we can have some fun!'
'I’m pretty happy with the top five, realistically we’re fighting for the last spot on the podium, if Mercedes have a clean race, and we’ve put ourselves in a good position for that.
We were close to Felipe, but hopefully the clean side of the grid will help me out a bit, so we’ll see what happens. I’d say we’re better on tyres than the Williams, but their straight line speed makes that advantage disappear. Hopefully we’ll have some good clean battles on track tomorrow, the circuit certainly allows for that and provides some good opportunities, so hopefully we can have some fun!'
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will start the race from 6th place on the grid while Jenson Button who qualified in 7th place for McLaren Mercedes will take a five place grid penalty following an unscheduled gearbox change so he will start the race from 12th place on the grid. Kevin Magnussen will no start the race from 7th place in the second McLaren thanks to his team mate's penalty.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen who feels that the car is improving will start the race from 8th place just ahead of the Sauber F1 Team's Adrian Sutil who managed to get the Swiss based outfit into the final part of qualifying for the first time this season.
The Lotus F1 Team's Pastor Maldonado will start the race from 10th place despite missing out on a place in Q3. Speaking following the session the Venezuelan stated:
'The car feels more solid and together than it has for the last few races which meant I was able to push more than usual. We know we work better in the faster corners – just as we saw in Barcelona – and I think there is still more pace in the car. On my Q2 lap I made a small mistake in the second to last corner which would have been worth another tenth and then we’d have been in Q3.
We’re well placed for tomorrow; we need to have a good strategy, stay relaxed and calm and then let’s fight for the points. I think we have a great chance to score and that will be the main focus.'
Sahara Force India F1 Team's Sergio Perez will start the race from 11th place just ahead of former team mate McLaren's Jenson Button. Speaking following the session the Mexican stated:
'It has been a difficult weekend so far working with the car balance because the windy conditions have impacted on us quite a lot. The wind was always changing direction, making the car quite unpredictable and making it difficult to be consistent.
So it was hard to get the perfect lap together. I had to use two sets of soft tyres in Q1 just to make sure I got through to Q2, which meant I only had a single set of new soft tyres to use in Q2.
Given the conditions I think we’ve done a good job, but I wish I could have done even better for the fans because they have made a big effort to come here and show their support. Hopefully tomorrow we can race well and be in the fight for some points.'
'The car feels more solid and together than it has for the last few races which meant I was able to push more than usual. We know we work better in the faster corners – just as we saw in Barcelona – and I think there is still more pace in the car. On my Q2 lap I made a small mistake in the second to last corner which would have been worth another tenth and then we’d have been in Q3.
We’re well placed for tomorrow; we need to have a good strategy, stay relaxed and calm and then let’s fight for the points. I think we have a great chance to score and that will be the main focus.'
Sahara Force India F1 Team's Sergio Perez will start the race from 11th place just ahead of former team mate McLaren's Jenson Button. Speaking following the session the Mexican stated:
'It has been a difficult weekend so far working with the car balance because the windy conditions have impacted on us quite a lot. The wind was always changing direction, making the car quite unpredictable and making it difficult to be consistent.
So it was hard to get the perfect lap together. I had to use two sets of soft tyres in Q1 just to make sure I got through to Q2, which meant I only had a single set of new soft tyres to use in Q2.
Given the conditions I think we’ve done a good job, but I wish I could have done even better for the fans because they have made a big effort to come here and show their support. Hopefully tomorrow we can race well and be in the fight for some points.'
Nico Hulkenberg will start the race from 13th place in the second Sahara Force India while Daniil Kvyat will start the race from the back of the grid despite getting a ten place grid penalty which could be carried through as a five place gird penalty for the next race in Brazil next weekend. Jean Eric Vergne will as a result start ahead of his team mate in the second Toro Rosso in 14th place.
Speaking following the session Nico Hulkenberg stated:
'To begin with, qualifying was going well and I really believed Q3 was possible. On my final lap in Q2 I was on target for the top ten until something really unusual happened because a tear-off visor wrapped itself around my front tyre going into turn twelve.
I’ve never experienced something like that in my career and when I turned into the corner I had no grip, I ran wide and lost a couple of tenths. It was my final Q2 lap so it was quite frustrating and unlucky.
Looking ahead to the race, it’s going to be tough because the soft tyres are quite a challenge here and we expect more hot temperatures tomorrow. Scoring points will be our aim as we are normally stronger on Sunday afternoon.'
Sahara Force India team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya commented on qualifying saying:
'We were probably expecting a little bit more from today’s qualifying session, especially considering that Nico has been inside the top ten in all the practice sessions and looked very strong during this morning’s session. Ultimately he was unlucky when it mattered today with a strange incident disturbing his best opportunity to make the top ten. Without that he would have made Q3.
Sergio has been struggling more to fine-tune the balance here, due in part to the windy weather. However, he pulled together a reasonable lap and he should be able to race well from there.'
Speaking following the session Nico Hulkenberg stated:
'To begin with, qualifying was going well and I really believed Q3 was possible. On my final lap in Q2 I was on target for the top ten until something really unusual happened because a tear-off visor wrapped itself around my front tyre going into turn twelve.
I’ve never experienced something like that in my career and when I turned into the corner I had no grip, I ran wide and lost a couple of tenths. It was my final Q2 lap so it was quite frustrating and unlucky.
Looking ahead to the race, it’s going to be tough because the soft tyres are quite a challenge here and we expect more hot temperatures tomorrow. Scoring points will be our aim as we are normally stronger on Sunday afternoon.'
Sahara Force India team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya commented on qualifying saying:
'We were probably expecting a little bit more from today’s qualifying session, especially considering that Nico has been inside the top ten in all the practice sessions and looked very strong during this morning’s session. Ultimately he was unlucky when it mattered today with a strange incident disturbing his best opportunity to make the top ten. Without that he would have made Q3.
Sergio has been struggling more to fine-tune the balance here, due in part to the windy weather. However, he pulled together a reasonable lap and he should be able to race well from there.'
The Sauber F1 Team's Esteban Gutierrez will start the race 15th place while the Lotus F1 Team's Romain Grosjean will start the race from 16th place with Daniil Kvyat starting 17th while reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel will start the race from the pit-lane.
Following the session, Romain Grosjean commented by saying:
'The car was good this morning, I was enjoying driving it and I even said it was the best car I’ve driven for a while! Unfortunately, it didn’t feel the same when I went out for qualifying and it was a real struggle to find any pace – which we clearly didn’t find, given our qualifying position. On the plus side, my car worked well this morning, as did Pastor’s in qualifying, so there’s still potential in what will be a long race, with a few pit stops to help shake up the order.'
The Lotus F1 Team Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane took part in a Q&A with the team following the session:
“We’re reasonably happy.”
How was qualifying for the team?
We can be reasonably happy with today’s qualifying session. It’s a shame for Pastor to miss out on Q3 as he definitely had the pace to get there. Nonetheless, after our recent performances we can be content with qualifying eleventh and we’ll actually start in P10 with Jenson’s penalty. Starting tenth with a fresh set of tyres means we can certainly fight for points from there. In contrast, Romain had a troubled session; he felt the car was very different than in practice this morning and had a lot of problems with front tyres locking. We’ll be taking a good look at that to try and solve the issue as things were working really well for him in FP3.
What are the strategy considerations for the race?
Overall, it’s a good step up in performance for us this weekend. For the race, we can expect two to three stops which should make for quite an exciting race with everyone’s different strategies coming into play. Certainly, we’re seeing better tyre performance for ourselves than in Sochi where we really struggled.
Following the session reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel commented by saying:
'It’s difficult to say where we are compared to the others teams, it doesn’t seem too bad, depending on the conditions which are currently good. In the race tomorrow I think we can move up, our race pace seems okay, but it will be tight. It will be difficult to overtake, as we don’t have the ideal straight line speed, hopefully we can get some points tomorrow. Seventh would be a good result.'
Infiniti Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner stated:
'A very tidy lap by Daniel, I think fifth was the optimum today. He came close to out-qualifying Felipe, but the third row of the grid is still a strong place to be starting tomorrow’s race. It’s a long drag up the hill to the first corner, so hopefully we can make a good start. A very frustrating qualifying for Sebastian who was only able to do one lap; whatever his result today he will still be starting from the pit lane.
On top of that we had to be extremely prudent on engine mileage to make sure we don’t incur another engine change before the end of the year.'
Following the session, Romain Grosjean commented by saying:
'The car was good this morning, I was enjoying driving it and I even said it was the best car I’ve driven for a while! Unfortunately, it didn’t feel the same when I went out for qualifying and it was a real struggle to find any pace – which we clearly didn’t find, given our qualifying position. On the plus side, my car worked well this morning, as did Pastor’s in qualifying, so there’s still potential in what will be a long race, with a few pit stops to help shake up the order.'
The Lotus F1 Team Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane took part in a Q&A with the team following the session:
“We’re reasonably happy.”
How was qualifying for the team?
We can be reasonably happy with today’s qualifying session. It’s a shame for Pastor to miss out on Q3 as he definitely had the pace to get there. Nonetheless, after our recent performances we can be content with qualifying eleventh and we’ll actually start in P10 with Jenson’s penalty. Starting tenth with a fresh set of tyres means we can certainly fight for points from there. In contrast, Romain had a troubled session; he felt the car was very different than in practice this morning and had a lot of problems with front tyres locking. We’ll be taking a good look at that to try and solve the issue as things were working really well for him in FP3.
What are the strategy considerations for the race?
Overall, it’s a good step up in performance for us this weekend. For the race, we can expect two to three stops which should make for quite an exciting race with everyone’s different strategies coming into play. Certainly, we’re seeing better tyre performance for ourselves than in Sochi where we really struggled.
Following the session reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel commented by saying:
'It’s difficult to say where we are compared to the others teams, it doesn’t seem too bad, depending on the conditions which are currently good. In the race tomorrow I think we can move up, our race pace seems okay, but it will be tight. It will be difficult to overtake, as we don’t have the ideal straight line speed, hopefully we can get some points tomorrow. Seventh would be a good result.'
Infiniti Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner stated:
'A very tidy lap by Daniel, I think fifth was the optimum today. He came close to out-qualifying Felipe, but the third row of the grid is still a strong place to be starting tomorrow’s race. It’s a long drag up the hill to the first corner, so hopefully we can make a good start. A very frustrating qualifying for Sebastian who was only able to do one lap; whatever his result today he will still be starting from the pit lane.
On top of that we had to be extremely prudent on engine mileage to make sure we don’t incur another engine change before the end of the year.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
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