Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

We demonstrated that the car has improved and is much more competitive than at the other races. I am happy to be back at the front end in qualifying and the credit for that goes to everyone at the Scuderia, who have worked day and night these past weeks to get so many new elements on track so quickly. There is still a long way to go, but we are working in the right direction which is a good sign for the future. From fourth on the grid, my aim is to fight for a podium finish. At the start, the KERS could be very handy in helping me make up some places and then we know we can count on running a good race pace. I feel more comfortable at the wheel: the car is more stable and doesn’t slide so much everywhere as it did in the past.

We made a stupid mistake. It’s a real shame because the car was much better than the one we had in the previous races and we had every chance of getting a good result. I didn’t get any particularly good laps on my only run in Q1, but we thought my best time would be enough to make it to Q2 and so I stayed in the garage. There’s no point in saying whose fault it was, because we can’t do anything about it now. I certainly wasn’t keen on doing another run as I was thinking of saving a set of new soft tyres for Q3 and the team reckoned we could make it. Tomorrow’s race will be tough and we will try and make the best of the situation. The F60 has improved, maybe not yet to the level of the best, but we’re definitely getting closer.

An unexpected but very pleasing pole position today and it is probably my most satisfying pole of the season. Rubens been really quick all weekend and I was able to benefit from that by looking at his set-up to overcome some of the issues that we faced in practice yesterday. My final lap in Q3 was by far the best lap that I’ve had this weekend but it was a bit close crossing the line with just two seconds to spare The upgrades that we have on the car here are performing well and it is certainly a good step forward for us although we haven’t got the most out of the package yet. The team has done a great job with the evelopments and I hope that everyone at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth enjoyed the pole today. It’s really important to start from the front here as overtaking can be difficult but we do have Felipe behind us with KERS so a good start will be crucial tomorrow.

We have had a really good weekend so far here in Spain and I’m happy to be starting from third position on the grid tomorrow. Of course it is a little disappointing not to be on pole after a great Q2 however my final lap in Q3 was good. We may have gone out slightly too early for the final run and missed an opportunity there. However I’m happy with our strategy and we are well placed for the race. We will need to get off the line cleanly and stay ahead of the Ferrari down to the first corner to make the most of our potential.

Das Qualifying begann wirklich sehr gut für mich. Ich habe zwei gute Runden in Q1 gehabt und eine sehr gute in Q2. Die Rundenzeit war sogar so gut, dass wir uns getraut haben, in der Box zu bleiben. Es hat tatsächlich auch so gereicht, um ins Top-Ten-Qualifying zu kommen. Das zeigt ganz klar, dass wir das Auto verbessert haben. Aber dann hatte ich in Q3 gleich zu Beginn der letzten Runde unheimliches Untersteuern. Es war klar, dass etwas nicht stimmt, und ich bin zurück zur Box gefahren. Es ist enttäuschend, dass ich wegen dieses Problems unter den Möglichkeiten des Autos geblieben bin.

It was an interesting and tough qualifying session for me today, particularly Q1 and Q2 when I struggled a little on a low fuel load but we made it into Q3 which is the main thing. In Q3 the grip was much better with more fuel on board and the car reacted well so I was able to push hard. At the end of the session I managed to put in a very good lap so I am pleased with my performance and I think seventh on the grid is pretty good considering the fuel I have on board. I believe my strategy is a good one so today's result was positive and I am optimistic for a good result in the race.

We did the best we could today,” he said afterwards. “My lap was not fantastic but the car was not fast enough either – I didn’t have the grip to go any faster. However, it will be quite a long and tough race for everyone tomorrow and we’ll try and make up as many places as possible and hope to score some points. We’ll learn from this, keep pushing and do better in the future.

I am reasonably satisfied to be starting in the top six, especially as the practice sessions didn't go completely to plan. I struggled a bit in practice with car stability but we worked hard to improve that and qualifying sixth is not a bad result so we have to be happy with it. Obviously we hoped to be a bit closer to the front but other teams have made a step forward this weekend and the competition is really close. I've scored points in all the races so far this season and starting from the third row gives me a good opportunity to keep up that run. Finishing on the podium will not be easy but of course I'll be pushing as hard as possible and we'll see what happens in the race tomorrow.

We were hoping for better than that. Apart from going off the track, I also encountered some traffic in Q2 and I think without that I could have been two or three tenths quicker and been a couple of places higher. Now, we will work hard to be well prepared for tomorrow when they say it might rain, which could be good for us. It’s hard to overtake here, so it will be tough to get up into the points places, but you never know what might happen on the first lap. I have not given up on the idea of having a good weekend.

I think that we did our maximum this afternoon. We were quick and have closed the gap with the leaders, although it was a bit close in Q2 where we were 10th. For the race tomorrow we know that the seven cars in front are quicker and the ones behind us are quite heavy on fuel and could jump ahead of us during the pit stops, so it might be difficult to keep our position. Nonetheless we need to score points and that will be our aim in tomorrow’s race.

This was the first time this year that I didn’t reach Q2,” said a disappointed Heikki afterwards. “Into the last sector, Nick was a little bit ahead of me but I don’t think he lost me a lot of time. It’s been quite a difficult weekend: I just couldn’t find any grip today – that’s why the laptime was too slow.

I must say I am very pleased with today’s result because we weren’t looking good this morning. In qualifying, we struggled to get the tyres to work because the temperatures were only just about right. The tyres weren’t perfect on the first lap, but then they came together on the second. I managed to hook up a strong lap in Q2 which put me as high as P7, but I then didn’t have any tyres left for Q3. We did the best we could and we can be happy with the fifth row. We have a strong strategy so we have a good chance for the race tomorrow.

That was a bit disappointing. I would like to have done a slightly better job in Q3 and I could have done it. Q2 was good, but that’s not the most important session. We’re fifth, so let’s see what we can do from there tomorrow. Thanks to the guys at Red Bull, they’ve done another good job this weekend.

The car is definitely quicker in this specification, but the times are so close that, as soon as you make the slightest mistake, you are not forgiven. My first run was okay, but I felt I had less grip in the second one. Doing two runs of two laps was the right decision. I had a bit too much oversteer in the slow corners, so I couldn’t carry enough speed, and for a fraction I didn’t make the cut and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough again today.

It was another really close session and all the cars were very competitive, especially in Q1. I was happy with the car as we had improved the balance this morning, but I just missed out on the top ten which is a bit disappointing. Still, starting 12th is not too bad and we have been free to choose our fuel load and have a strategy that we hope will help us move forward during the race.

I felt very comfortable in the car today. The lap time in Q3 was good, unfortunately not good enough to beat Jenson – last minute he took the pole position away! But second on the grid, on the front row is great, especially as we were struggling a little bit with the car yesterday. The conditions are different to when we were testing here during the winter, but we fixed it and made a good recovery today. We also made an adjustment following this morning’s practice, before qualifying, which seemed to work – so I’m very happy. We only needed one run on the hard tyre in Q1 and one run on the soft tyre in Q2. It was a great job and compliments to the whole crew for their hard work. Some parts arrived quite late, which has meant some long nights for the boys, but they will have some rest later today.

I had some problems with traffic on my last lap and felt I could have improved the time. The car felt quite good though, more consistent than in the free practice this morning, and our race pace is always better than in qualifying. With Kovalainen and Raikkonen not far away from us I think the race will be a tough one, but let’s see what we can do with the strategy and try and gain some positions.

My effort is a little bit disappointing. I felt comfortable throughout the session but I then lost time towards the end of my quick lap. The car felt really good too so I need to look over my data and see why I was losing that time. I think we can still have a decent race; in fact, I need to after the last few that haven’t gone well for me. Points will definitely be a target for me tomorrow.

We knew that this would be a tight session and it was. The balance of my car was OK and I don’t think missing the free practice session yesterday put us at a disadvantage, it was just really close out there again. Track conditions were quite good for us, and the grip of the car improved from this morning but we just didn’t have enough speed at the end of the day to do any more. But it could be a good race with the people we have around us.

Positiv ist, dass wir durch das neue Aerodynamik-Paket offensichtlich Fortschritte mit unserem Auto gemacht haben. Umso ärgerlicher ist es, dass ich nicht das Maximum herausholen konnte. Nachdem ich heute im freien Training in Kurve zwölf die Kontrolle über das Auto verloren hatte und in den Reifenstapeln gelandet war, konnte ich mich nicht mehr weiter auf das Qualifying vorbereiten. Vorhersagen für das Rennen sind schwierig, und Überholen ist nicht einfach in Barcelona, aber ich hoffe trotzdem auf Punkte.