Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

Wir haben sehr hart gearbeitet und dies ist die richtige Belohnung für alle im Team. Ich bin überglücklich, dass alles zusammengekommen ist und ich meine erste Pole in den USA einfahren konnte. Ich war in der ersten Kurve immer relativ schlecht und fand es schwierig, die richtige Linie zu treffen. Deshalb habe ich in diesem Streckenabschnitt Zeit verloren. Aber heute habe ich es endlich hinbekommen – das wurde aber auch Zeit! Ich fühle mich an diesem Wochenende stark und ich werde den Sonntag wie jedes andere Rennen auch angehen. Wir haben viel daran gearbeitet, um sowohl unsere Starts als auch unsere Long Run-Pace zu festigen. Jetzt freue ich mich darauf, morgen wieder auf die Strecke zu gehen.

Ich hatte eine gute Runde auf meinem letzten Run im Q3. Aber leider hat es nicht gereicht, da Lewis im ersten Sektor etwas mehr Zeit gefunden hat. Wir haben in diesem Jahr aber schon öfter gesehen, dass es nicht nur um die Startposition geht. Ich glaube fest daran, dass ich morgen noch eine große Chance auf den Sieg habe. Ich werde versuchen, mir Lewis auf dem Weg zur ersten Kurve zu schnappen. Falls das nicht klappen sollte, bietet die Strecke aber auch viele andere Überholmöglichkeiten. Es wäre fantastisch, wenn ich am Sonntag mit meinem ersten Sieg beim US Grand Prix in der Tasche abreisen könnte.

“I’m happy with qualifying for sure. It was pretty much the best we could do today, good progression and we got quicker and quicker. We start on the supersofts and the guys around me are on softs so I hope that works out well for me. We suspected that would be the case and I was happy to do it, hopefully it gives me a little bit off the start and we can challenge the first lap. The supersofts probably won’t have as much range as the softs so you want to try and get at least a handful of laps out of them, but ideally it puts me in a better position off the start and hopefully I can dictate my own pace as opposed to fighting in traffic.”

“Being both on the second row is not a bad result at all. For me the qualifying started off well but didn’t end great. I was happy to qualify in Q2 on the soft and that was a good lap, from there on it was quite difficult. The first run in Q3 was ok, I was just building up, and then the second run went well until the last corner where I lost some time due to over steer. I have three cars in front of me so there will need to be some passing during the race and hopefully starting on the soft compound will help. Mercedes have shown in qualifying that they are pretty strong and will be hard to beat. Our focus needs to be on what comes from behind us. Daniel and I starting on different strategies means we have options to attack or defend so I hope it is an exciting race.”

“Obviously we cannot be pleased with where we finished today, looking at the time difference to the front. We did what we could, but our position on the grid is far from ideal. This is the reality today and now we have to be stronger in the race. Yesterday we struggled a bit to find the right set up: we changed small things here and there and today the handling of the car was pretty good. We lack speed in the lap and to go faster we need more overall grip. Tomorrow is going to be a long race, the long run was not too bad, so I expect the car we had today to be better tomorrow. For sure we are going to do our best and hopefully we are going to have a strong race.”

”Qualifying was not so good, hopefully the race will go better. Surely we can try and look at different things, learn from today, go forward, and for sure we are not pleased with the gap to the cars ahead. It was not the best session for me: overall it was ok, the car felt fine, but in the end we were not just quick enough. For sure in Q3 I could have done a slightly better lap, but at the end of the day obviously we are missing a bit compared to the cars in front, so I think tomorrow could be a different day. Probably in my last lap I was a bit too aggressive. There remains a bit of a question mark at this point, at least on why we were so competitive in fast corners in Suzuka and here we are missing out; but then again we are missing out across all sectors. For tomorrow we’ll see, there’s always a chance to outsmart the people but I think we have to react on the fly. The strategy is set for the beginning, in terms the tires to start the race with, but we kept some new tire sets, so we’ll see. It could be an interesting race: tire degradation is always important, it could be playing a big role tomorrow.”

“Lining up seventh on the grid is as good as it gets today. Once again, we’re the first after the three big teams, which is where we can realistically expect to be. We knew we would perform well here, but I am actually quite surprised by the big margin we have over the cars behind us. The start and the first lap will be fundamental for the race, so I will need to keep out of trouble, put my head down and push hard. Choosing the right strategy is where we will focus tonight – I think there are a few different options, so we will need to see which one gives us the best opportunity. Looking at the gaps ahead and behind us, we may be in for a bit of a lonely afternoon, but I wouldn’t mind it at all – I just want a strong result!”

This was a good qualifying for us as a team. We’re in-between the Force India’s for the start of the race tomorrow, and that’s after they had more pace than us today. Hopefully, tomorrow it will be a different case. It’s going to be a long race and we know we can compete against them with our race pace. The progress we’ve made since today’s practice with our set-up will hopefully help us, as it’s going to be a very close and aggressive battle with Force India. We need to do everything we can to be ahead of both of them. It’s a battle we can win.

The positive from today’s qualifying is that both cars are right in the middle of the Force India’s so we are well positioned to race them tomorrow. The only downside is that the gap to Hulkenberg’s car is bigger than we would have liked, but our car is feeling better on long runs at this track than shorter runs which will help us tomorrow. We need to get everything right in the race tomorrow, especially the strategy, to maximise the points we score.

"I can't be happier than what I'm feeling today after that qualifying session! After quite a complicated FP3, where I didn't get much track time due to the two punctures, to suddenly put such a great lap together in Q2 and get through to Q3 is just amazing – I was really happy when I was told my position over the radio! I'm sure the team was also very pleased, it's definitely something we needed after some tough race weekends. Today is one of the days I will always remember of my 2016 season! Tomorrow will be a tough race but we will certainly try our best to fight for points!"

“It has been a messy day – not only qualifying, but final practice as well. For some reason, I’ve been quite a long way off the pace and we’ve lost some of the performance we had yesterday. This morning we found an issue with one of the components at the rear of the car, which impacted on my pace. I thought we had solved that going into qualifying, but I still believe there is an issue with the car because the data showed it was very difficult for me to match my teammate in the braking zones. The car also felt nervous through the high-speed corners. Hopefully we can understand where I’m losing out and figure out a solution so that it does not impact on my race pace tomorrow.”

“We weren’t quick enough to make it into Q3 today, and we were lacking some rhythm too. Having said that, getting the car into Q3in ninth or tenth but then having to start the race on used Supersoft tyres would be a problem, as other cars would catch us easily after four or five laps owing to the degradation. So, let’s say that 11th for us would have been pole position and 12th is second-best. We’ll start on new tyres and we’ll be able to attack. “It seems like all the Mercedes-powered teams here got an extra boost and are more competitive, which has made life a little more difficult for us. “If we want to score some points in the race tomorrow we need to raise our game and find a clever way.”

"Not a bad qualifying session. The car was a bit difficult for me to drive today, with some small balance issues... Nevertheless, it wasn't a bad lap time considering this and we were very close to Q3 – we only missed out by a tenth and a half. On the positive side, we get to choose the tyres with which to start tomorrow's race, something that's important from a strategy point of view. Many things can happen in the race and the midfield is very tight, so we can try and fight for points."

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend for the team. We struggled a lot on Friday. Today we focused and gave it everything we’ve got and this is the best result we could get. Unfortunately, we lost some parts on Friday and we’re not using our new front wing, so that’s a few tenths that could have helped us get into Q3, which is what we’re looking for. In the end, it all comes down to focusing and driving as quickly as possible. This is what I did today and it’s what I’m going to do tomorrow to try to get the best result for the team.”

“I think I got pretty much the most out of the car today, it’s my best qualifying for a while so I’m feeling good! I ended up doing just one good lap in Q1 and only one lap in Q2 but they were both pretty decent so I’m happy with 15th. For tomorrow, it’s difficult to tell exactly what our race pace will be like but I’m hoping we can have another good one.”

“It has been a tricky Friday, as I was not feeling confident in the car. We had quite a lot of work to do overnight to find a better direction for today. We definetly made steps in the right direction for FP3. For qualifying I felt even better in the car. That was a good job by everyone. Talking about qualifying, I am satisfied with my performance. My lap in Q1, that at that time was P14, was really good. In Q2 we did not have a fresh set of supersoft tyres to put on. Anyway, P16 is a decent position to start the race from, and I hope we can again take up the fight with the mid-field in the race tomorrow.”

“We’re missing downforce here and paying a heavy price for it. This is a track that needs a lot of downforce and we just don’t have enough. Low speed is very difficult for us. We were struggling here yesterday with some pieces coming off and we didn’t learn much on track. Today is a bit of a summary of yesterday. We’ve been on the back foot since the beginning and we just haven’t had the grip. We’re good with the top speed but, unfortunately, the pace of the car overall doesn’t look good for tomorrow.”

“We didn’t qualify where we expected today so that’s pretty frustrating. Yesterday the car felt pretty good so we didn’t make any set-up changes, yet the car felt very different out on track. Where we were strong yesterday we weren’t today so we definitely need to work out what’s going on. Hopefully we have decent pace in the race as it’s a circuit where you can overtake here, it’s not impossible to still get a reasonable result.”

“It’s disappointing to be in P19 after qualifying. Our pace was good yesterday and this morning – eighth and ninth positions – so there’s definitely something not quite right there. I went out on the Softs to start with and we thought we’d have enough pace, but it was a tough lap and I hit a lot of traffic. If we’d judged it right at the end when we put the Supersofts on, it might have been fine, but it wasn’t. “I had four cars to overtake in the last sector alone, and then the last one [Jolyon Palmer] didn’t move out of the way. He saw me really late and stayed on the racing line, so I had to outbrake into the last corner. It’s so important to brake late and carry speed into there and you can’t do that if you’re offline, it hurts the tyres a lot more. It’s disappointing. “Hopefully tomorrow we can make up some ground in the race but it’s going to be a tough day – we have good race pace but overtaking around here will be almost impossible for us.”

Pascal, this morning wasn’t the best preparation for your first qualifying at the Circuit of The Americas. So well done for turning the situation around. “Yes, I made life very difficult for myself this morning, spinning and ending up in the gravel and missing more than half of the session. It was a real bonus to get the car back six minutes from the end of FP3 and the team did a fantastic job to get me out in time to do an out-lap, a timed lap, and an in-lap before the end of the session. I had only taken part in FP2 until that point, having missed the first session, so every lap was critical. My thanks to everyone in my crew for pushing for that as I think it really helped me.” And your qualifying lap? How was that? “I threw everything I had at it. It’s another new track for me and it’s one where you really need to get used to the corners and the circuit features and find a good rhythm before qualifying. I wasn’t expecting to find that rhythm again in time; I was feeling pretty unhappy after FP3 and when I was stuck in the gravel, I just couldn’t believe it. It took me a while to come to terms with it, to be honest. So there was quite a lot of pressure and that’s why I’m really happy with my lap. I can’t wait to race now.”

“It is certainly not the qualifying result we can be satisfied with, especially when keeping in mind yesterday’s results. I was pretty satisfied with the balance of the car in both free practice sessions, but in qualifying there was something wrong with the car. We have to investigate and see what we can improve on for tomorrow.”

Esteban, tough qualifying today? “Yes, we struggled a bit on the Supersoft. I came out of the garage quite late as we had a problem with a sticking wheel nut, so I had to push on my outlap, which didn’t help. Overall, it was a difficult qualifying. I made a small mistake which cost me some time; it’s a tricky circuit.” Until tomorrow then. What are your expectations? “For tomorrow, there will be a lot of different strategies between the teams, some quicker than others, but it should be interesting. We do know our strategy for tomorrow and we’ll see how that works out. I need a good start and hopefully gain a few places right away. One way or another, I’m expecting a nice fight.”