Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

Meine Pole-Runde in Montreal war etwas ganz Besonderes. Aber ich glaube, diese übertrifft das noch einmal. Mein erster Run im Q3 war an sich richtig gut. Aber ich wollte in der letzten Kurve etwas zu viel, verbremste mich und das kostete mich Zeit. Nach der roten Flagge hatte ich auf meiner letzten Runde viel Druck. Wir hatten das gesamte Wochenende über Schwierigkeiten, das Auto auf einer Runde hinzubekommen. Aber dies war eine „Alles oder nichts“-Situation. Also gab ich alles, was ich hatte. Valtteri war ebenfalls auf einer großartigen Runde. Umso schöner war das Gefühl, als ich über die Linie gefahren bin und sah, dass ich die Pole hatte. Selbst wenn die Runde nur für P2 gereicht hätte, wäre ich stolz auf sie gewesen. Gestern hatten wir zu kämpfen, aber wir haben über Nacht viele Veränderungen vorgenommen. Vielen Dank an das Team, das lange hier war, um das Auto so hinzubekommen – sie haben fantastisch gearbeitet.

Es ist eine Enttäuschung, die Pole verloren zu haben – denn das war mein Ziel heute. Bis zur späten roten Flagge sah es gut aus. Aber Lewis fuhr eine großartige Runde und meine war nicht gut genug. Im letzten Run im Q3 haben wir zum ersten Mal versucht, auf der ersten Runde eine schnelle Runde zu fahren. Der Grund dafür waren die Temperaturen. Aber ich bekam die Reifen nicht so gut zum Arbeiten wie Lewis. Ich fand einfach nicht den nötigen Grip. Am meisten stolz bin ich heute aber auf die enorme Leistung des Teams, das über Nacht das Auto besser hinbekommen hat. Wir waren am Freitag etwas verloren, aber wir haben einige Änderungen durchgeführt und das Wochenende herumgerissen. Jetzt haben wir eine fantastische Startposition für das Rennen und ich erwarte einen guten Kampf mit Lewis.

“The whole weekend has been about making the tires work well and today we struggled a bit more than yesterday. If you can get them working 100% on one lap you can easily go a lot faster, but it was not the case today. When we were able to switch the tires on, the car felt nice, but this feeling kept changing from lap to lap and from set to set. I did not feel comfortable going into the first corner and could not push so hard. It was easy to slide or make a small mistake. It was always on the edge of working and not working, but on the last lap it felt a bit better. Third place is obviously not a disaster, I take it happily. I think we did the best we could achieve today. In the race, with more laps, the tires should start working better. I’m positive that we are going to be a lot closer to our competitors”.

“The result is ok, but obviously I am not entirely happy and this qualifying didn’t help. I don’t have excuses, I could have done better. I think I had the rhythm at the end but just didn’t get everything right. We were not quick enough, but tomorrow I think we still have a good chance. The car has been fast during the races and that was the case yesterday too, on the long-runs. So, let’s see what happens. The start of my qualifying session was a bit slow, then by Q2 I think I had the car under control. But my Q3 was not ideal. I had to stop at the end of the pit-lane when the red flag came out and my tires got cold. Tomorrow, anyway, it could be a different story.”

“The car felt very good during qualifying, I struggled a bit to get the tyres working in sector one but everything else felt like it was going in the right direction. I think we realistically had a shot at P3 today, which on this track would have been a fantastic result. The Red Flag didn’t really have an impact on me, I had just about completed my fast lap and then had a chance for one lap when the session was restarted, just like everyone else. On my final lap in Q3 I was going about three tenths quicker than my best time but then I lost gear sync in the second sector, it cost me a couple of tenths which was frustrating and meant we could not challenge for third. I’m hopeful we can get on top of these issues overnight and be ready for tomorrow. Once again Mercedes have made a big step today so I don’t think we can get close to them but we will be looking to challenge Ferrari come the race. It would be great to get on the podium and that is the goal.”

“I’m quite pleased with sixth place. The red flag in Q3 was not helpful because I had yet to set a competitive time and it meant I only had one chance to deliver right at the end. Normally we do an out lap, a preparation lap, and then push, but there just wasn’t time. So it was not an ideal Q3, but I’m still happy with our performance. There are quick cars ahead of us and also behind us, so it’s going to be a very close battle tomorrow. It’s a street circuit so it will be important to stay out of trouble and react quickly as things happen in the race.”

“It’s the best qualifying position in my career and I am very happy about how the session went. I made a tiny mistake on my fastest lap and that probably cost me a position, but as a team we have been improving every step of the way. Today was all about pushing to the limit: I brushed the wall three times, something I didn’t do yesterday, but I wanted to give everything today. We are in a strong position for tomorrow’s race and we know anything can happen here. It’s a tight track and very tricky to get right. A strong first lap will be crucial, but the most important thing will be to finish the race. If you get to the end here, you can score big points. Our pace is good and I am confident we can get a good result.”

It was a good day, and it has been a good weekend. I am comfortable and confident in the car. I like the circuit and today everything fell into place. I missed a bit in Q3, and I think there was some more that was possible there, as we were four tenths off compared to my lap in Q2. In Q3, because the track temperatures had dropped, it was hard to get the tyres ready in one lap and also because of the red flag, we only had time to do one push lap. Sometimes round here it is better when you do one push lap, then another prep lap and then another push lap. But it is still a great result and I am just happy for the team.

It wasn’t a great qualifying for me. We struggled to make the tyres work. I just kept locking the front tyres and struggled to get into the corners. The car was better for me on used tyres than it was with a new set. The red flag didn’t help us there either, so my qualifying wasn’t great. I’m very happy for Lance as he did a good job. He managed to get in a good laptime. He was in a good fight today and he managed to make the tyres work better than me. Now we need to concentrate and put everything together for the race tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and I’m confident that the result can be better than today.

“It’s obviously frustrating when you crash but in Q3 you are trying to give everything and get that last little bit out of the car. I knew turn six was a corner where I could do better, I was trying to carry more speed but I lost the rear on the exit and hit the wall. The rear was coming round and I tried to drive out of it but it kept going. The wall kind of comes back round a bit so I hit it. It’s not the wall’s fault, obviously, I’m not blaming the wall! There was no other reason, I was just pushing hard and on the edge of the grip. Sure I’m not happy with the mistake but it’s one of those tracks. Part of me doesn’t like it right now but the reality is that I do like street circuits for these reasons, it shows when you are on the limit and you pay the price when you are over that limit. It’s a shame as I thought we could have been fighting at the front today but the time from Mercedes was really quick, they proved to be out of reach but Ferrari weren’t too far in front at the end. This weekend Max and I have been happy with the balance of the car and it is responding well so we have made definite progress. I’m not disheartened for tomorrow, I think so much can happen around here and even if it is a one stop race I’m sure we can make progress.”

"I think the only way of getting into Q3 today was by managing to get a massive tow or slipstream from someone, like what happened to me in Q1 – that was a mega lap that put me P5! In Q2 I didn't get the chance to do this again, but I enjoyed some clean laps. I'm satisfied with P11. For tomorrow, you can never be 100% confident about anything here in Baku, but we will obviously try and do our best and see where we finish."

“It was a good qualifying considering our position this weekend. It’s not been our most competitive track – perhaps the weakest track we’ve been to this year in terms of competitiveness. So to be P12, after penalties and all that are done, I think we should be happy with that. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, but I’ll do what I can.”

“There was an electrical problem meaning we lost power and then the car couldn’t run at the end of Q2. It’s a super challenging and tricky track here and we’ve seen a lot of issues up and down the pit lane. Tomorrow we’ll push and fight for points; it’s not going to be easy this weekend, but it’s a long race so you just have to stay on the ball and seize every opportunity.”

„Ich bin glücklich, dass ich es in Q2 geschafft habe. Von gestern auf heute haben wir sicherlich einen Schritt nach vorne gemacht, was die Performance des Autos anbelangt. Meine schnellste Runde war aus unserer Sicht gut, denn wir hätten auf dieser Strecke nicht erwarten können, dass wir uns für Q2 qualifizieren. Am Sonntag werde ich wie immer alles versuchen, um eine ordentliche Leistung zu erzielen.“

"I would've preferred to have felt a bit more confident going into this qualifying session. Yesterday we had a very interrupted and rough day and we didn't get to do some proper running due to the yellow flags and traffic... So it was difficult to tune the car and get it to my liking. This meant that we went into qualifying with a bit of a compromise, not feeling fully confident, and in the end we've ended up paying for this. Having said that, I think that even if I had been totally confident with the car, Q3 was still extremely difficult today because of these long straights. Hopefully tomorrow is different and we're able to get into a rhythm in the race – if we do this, I'm sure we can show some very good pace and move forward. Unfortunately, I have a three-place grid penalty, but this track offers some good overtaking opportunities and we're going to go for it!"

“I’ve been struggling with the feeling and struggling with the driving style. The tires are really hard to bite the track. It’s been something I’ve been struggling with since Russia – where the tires are hard and the track is really smooth. I don’t get any feedback from the tires on the grip and what’s in the corners. I need to work on that and be better in these conditions. I just didn’t find the right balance. It’s going to be a long race and looking at all the practices, there’s going to be a lot going on. Hopefully, we get a good race.”

“Es war kein einfacher Tag für mich. Insbesondere die hohen Streckentemperaturen führten dazu, dass ich mit den Reifen zu kämpfen hatte. Nichtsdestotrotz konnten wir im dritten freien Training durchaus Fortschritte machen und damit den Rückstand zu unseren direkten Konkurrenten verringern. Positiv ist, dass sich Pascal für Q2 qualifiziert hat. Für mich hat es leider nicht gereicht, dennoch ist es für das Team ein Schritt nach vorne. Ich bin zuversichtlich, dass wir von heute einige Fortschritte mitnehmen und uns diese morgen im Rennen zugutekommen werden.“

“I think I was always destined to start 19th this weekend! “There were no big surprises for us in qualifying today. Our focus this weekend has always been on the race – today doesn’t mean too much, really. We always expected to struggle a little bit around here, we’ve not been on the pace all weekend, so let’s just see what happens tomorrow. “This is a tricky circuit – the long straights mean the brakes and tyres get cool, so the braking zones are very difficult to get right. There are definitely some opportunities to be had out on track – we’ve seen drivers going off in every session, so we’ll be looking to benefit from those.”

“We did a good job today in terms of preparing for the race: we only used one set of tyres, put in low fuel and did some checks. “We know we’re not competitive around here, but the race is going to be long and demanding. We’ve seen many mistakes from almost every driver, and we need to avoid making any of those tomorrow. “In these kinds of grands prix, we need to try and finish the race, get some data for the team, and keep developing the car. “We need to make sure we keep away from the walls tomorrow. Let’s also hope we can end up in the points.”

“It’s obviously not ideal to miss qualifying, but we had what looks like a fuel leak which ignited, and obviously did too much damage to the car for us to be able to make qualifying. Tomorrow I’ll start from near the back of the grid, or the pit lane, so I should be in a strong position to capitalise if there’s any issue up the front of the field. Hopefully we make a few positions on the first lap, then anything can happen.”