Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

On low fuel, the car was well balanced and had good grip, while once we had the race fuel on board, the situation got worse and we suffered oversteer, mainly on the softer tyre. Honestly, I’d expected to start higher up the grid, especially as we were pretty competitive in Q1 and Q2. Starting from seventh, it becomes tough to aim for the top, so we have to be realistic. However, we mustn’t forget this will be a long race and anything can happen. As usual, I will give it my best shot.

I am happy with this good result, especially after the difficult time we had during the last race weekend. We have made big improvements and it is nice to be back at the front where we belong. The tyre situation was a little tricky today because I was very quick on the hard tyre while I didn't feel I got the most out of the soft option. We need to analyse that to give us the best possible chance tomorrow I'm fired up and looking forward to the race. We were not far off pole position which is very encouraging and gives us high expectations for the race tomorrow. Obviously it is a long race and it's difficult to predict what will happen, but I will be fighting to finish on the podium.

That was not an easy session for me and it is disappointing to be out of the top 10. This morning we were quick and the set-up felt really good, so I was happy with the car going into qualifying. But when we put the option tyres on with a light fuel load the car had some oversteer and it didn't feel exactly like it did in the morning. We were still competitive and expecting to get into the top 10 but on my final lap of Q2 I made a mistake in the last sector and that was it; I lost time and didn't qualify where I expected. But it's easier to overtake here than in Monaco so I won't give up on the race.

It was fairly a difficult qualifying session as the tyre choice was quite hard. We weren’t entirely sure whether the prime or the option would be better as there wasn’t much in it between the two and this morning’s practice didn’t really clarify things. In Q1, I struggled with the option so we selected the prime for Q2, but unfortunately that wasn’t much of an improvement and I didn’t get the performance I wanted. It’s going to be difficult to get into the points, but P12 is ok and I will be fighting hard.

Startplatz zehn ist definitiv schon mal besser als Startplatz 18 in Monaco, aber wir sind immer noch zu weit weg von den Top-Autos. Die Strecke hier in Istanbul liegt unserem Auto deutlich besser als der Kurs in Monaco. Trotzdem werden wir morgen sehr zu kämpfen haben. Obwohl in der Rundenzeit gar keine Welten zwischen uns und der Spitze liegen, sind aber eine Menge Autos dazwischen. Es wird schwierig.

The team has done a great job since the practice sessions yesterday to make improvements and the car felt immediately better this morning. Qualifying went really well although I did have a worrying moment in Q2 when traffic affected my second run and the times were so close between the top eleven drivers. The main question in qualifying today was trying to understand which tyre performed better. I had a better feeling through the high-speed corners with the prime tyre and it was the best choice for me so I went for just the one run on the primes in Q3. I lost my first two flying laps to traffic but the third lap was really good. I have the advantage of starting from the clean side tomorrow so will be aiming for a good start and take it from there.

With the changes to the set-up that we made overnight, the car felt much better today and we were really able to get to grips with improving the pace. It’s great to be starting on the front row, although of course I would prefer to be on pole, but Sebastian did a great job. It was quite difficult to choose between the tyres today as their performance was quite similar. The prime was a little too twitchy for my liking so I continued to run the option tyre for Q3 which had a more gradual and rolling feel. It should be a good race tomorrow as I really enjoy this circuit and you can overtake here so there will hopefully be some good battles out on the track. We will be trying very hard to change the statistic that everyone who has started from pole here has won the race

It really wasn’t easy to choose between the soft and the hard compound to do your fastest lap on today, or to keep a balanced car while changing between the two. I ended up with some understeer and maybe a lost a position because of that, but I’m on the clean side of the grid tomorrow, which will help us to get a good start and maybe gain some positions. Since we also have a good race car, we will be targeting points, which is important for us as a team.

In qualifying the car was better balanced than in free practice but, even on a light fuel load, today we were a bit slower than the best. All weekend we have struggled a bit to get the tyres working at their best on the first lap. For sure, starting from the dirty side of the grid won’t be easy, especially on a track like this, which is hardly ever used for racing, which means the track surface offers little grip off the racing line. We have made progress recently, but the others have also done the same, which is what always happens.

We have a good car here and a good chance for the race. I expected to face more difficulties in qualifying today, I mean it wasn’t easy, but we made it to pole. We now have the best position to start from and it’s definitely an advantage to be on the clean side of the track in terms of grip level. This is just the half-way point though, the main task comes tomorrow. It’s a long race here, very tough and very hot so it won’t be easy for the cars or the drivers – but it should be exciting. I’m looking forward to it.

I knew I had a brake problem from the beginning of qualifying and so I was being cautious, but it wasn’t easy as the track was so slippery. On the last run the problem got worse and I spun off. However, I will remain positive for tomorrow as this is a track with good overtaking opportunities and hopefully we can have a strong race.

Our car seems to have got slower relative to the others as the grip has gone down on the track,” said Lewis afterwards. “I pushed as hard as I could today but I just had no grip out there. We now need to make sure we don’t rush into making too many changes to the car for the forthcoming races: we’ll take our time, refine things and sort out the problem with our car. The team has done a fantastic job though: they really have been working night and day with the same determination and drive as ever. This is clearly going to be a challenging year for us, but I have no doubts that we’ll bounce back.

That was a good qualifying session for us, I’m happy with how Q3 went and it’s put us in a reasonable position for the start of the race. We’re also on the right-hand side of the grid, which is good. I don’t think I could have finished much further up. I’m happy with the performance of the car, it worked well today and I’m aiming for a podium tomorrow. The team did a good job today.

Ich habe gemischte Gefühle nach dem heutigen Qualifying. Auf der einen Seite ist es sehr ärgerlich, so knapp das Top-Ten-Qualifying verpasst zu haben, aber auf der anderen Seite bin ich froh über den Fortschritt, den wir gemacht haben. Das Auto war schnell genug für Q3. Ich war vor meinem letzten Outing in Q2 Siebter und blieb dann im letzten Sektor meiner Einführungsrunde im Verkehr stecken. Bei den Reifen, die wir 2009 haben, reicht so eine Störung, damit sie nicht mehr richtig aufzuwärmen sind und die schnelle Runde ruiniert ist. Unser neues Aerodynamik-Paket mit dem Doppel-Diffusor ist ganz klar ein Schritt nach vorn. Nicht nur im Vergleich zu Monaco, sondern auch im Vergleich zu Barcelona, wo ich von Startplatz 13 aus zwei Punkte holen konnte.

Our car doesn’t have enough grip for us to attack the fast corners,” Heikki said. “The others seem to gain grip through the weekend and are able to better use the Option tyre while we’re using the Prime and losing performance. Braking and acceleration are still very good but we’re just losing grip as the track temperature increases. “The gap to the leaders is still too big so we need to do some more work back at the MTC to move closer to the front. We’ll never give up, but tomorrow’s race will be difficult.”

It was a really good qualifying session for us and I am very happy with the 15th place and Q2 again for the second race in a row. We didn't expect it as we had a few little issues in the weekend so far but we managed a good lap when it mattered. I am happy for the team and I think we can be really proud right now. I'm looking forward to a good race now tomorrow, we'll see what we can do.

All I know is that we lack grip and we are off the pace, even being two tenths off Seb (Buemi.) My first run wasn’t too bad, but I had degradation on my next one. Then we changed the tyre pressures a bit, but it seemed that as the session developed the Option began to work better and I was running the Prime which we felt suited us better. We’ve gone backwards a bit this weekend which is hard to take. In the race, I don’t think the difference between the tyres will be that much and in any case, it’s not just the tyres that are our problem this weekend.

We had a very tough time, especially with the soft compounds, as we were never able to get the most out of them. So the best thing we can do now is think hard about the race and ensure we have the best possible strategy. It will be a difficult afternoon, starting so far back and managing the tyres, specifically the inevitable degradation on the front right. Okay, starting eighteenth I’m not really thinking of a points finish, but we will still give it our best shot.

I have mixed feelings from this qualifying session. Q2 was really difficult and we only just made it through to Q3 in tenth position, but our level of performance and lack of pace meant we could only manage eighth on the grid, which is a bit disappointing. Unfortunately I will start from the dirty side of the track, which will make the start of the race difficult, but I still hope that I can challenge for some good points in the race.

I have had a problem with the brakes today and have had some front locking since this morning, but we made some changes between FP3 and qualifying that helped. Then unfortunately on my best lap there was a yellow flag as Piquet had spun and I had to lift off and couldn't get the time back. It was possible to be in the top 15, but there you go - sometimes it goes for you and others not. For sure the soft tyres are going to be a bit tricky tomorrow, especially in the heat, but I hope we can have a good race from where we are on the grid.