Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

Ich kann gar nicht richtig in Worte fassen, wie gut sich diese Pole anfühlt. Meine fünfte Pole in Silverstone, gleichauf mit Jim Clark, das fühlt sich für mich einfach verrückt an. Es ist so unwirklich, auf einer Höhe mit diesen Legenden zu sein. Ich bin sehr happy damit, wie das Wochenende bislang verlaufen ist. Wir waren ab dem ersten Training gut dabei und haben uns seitdem weiter gesteigert. Die Bedingungen im Q1 kamen mir sehr gelegen. Es war hart, aber diese wechselhaften Verhältnisse machen mir wahnsinnig viel Spaß. Als die Strecke abtrocknete, ging es nur darum, bis ans Limit zu gehen und das Beste aus dem Auto herauszuholen. Es lief einfach alles perfekt und ich wusste, dass es eine spektakuläre Runde war. Es musste einfach so sein. Ich glaube, dass ich momentan besser denn je fahre. Hoffentlich schlägt sich das auch in den Ergebnissen nieder. Zuletzt ging es super eng zu. Entsprechend ist es eine schöne Überraschung, einen Vorsprung von sieben Zehnteln auf Ferrari zu haben. Ich würde niemals jemandem absichtlich im Weg stehen. Ich denke auch nicht, dass das bei Romain der Fall gewesen ist. Aber wenn es so war, möchte ich mich dafür entschuldigen. Die Unterstützung durch die Fans war unglaublich und ich bin sehr stolz darauf, hier erneut die Pole eingefahren zu haben. All die Flaggen auf den Tribünen zu sehen, ist überwältigend. Nirgendwo sonst auf der Welt erhält ein Fahrer so viel Liebe und Unterstützung wie hier.

“In qualifying the handling of my car was better than any other time this weekend and I was really happy with that. Obviously we always want to finish higher, but today we got more or less what we could. In Q1, with the intermediate tires on a damp track, the conditions were a bit tricky. It was very slippery, but it was not wet everywhere and the tires wore out very quickly. Luckily we did the last run at the right time and it was ok. After that, the track was getting better and better. My last lap felt good, but it was still a bit tricky to know where to go because it was still a bit damp here and there; so I took it quite easily at first and then decided to push a bit more. The feeling that I got with my car today was nice, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I hope that in the race we can improve. Usually, we are a bit stronger on Sunday”

“We are quite happy with the result and our performance was good. I think it will be tough tomorrow considering that Mercedes has been very quick for the whole weekend. Our car today was good and felt amazing, so overall I am happy. The track was not really wet and it was good fun to drive, I just found a bunch of cars ahead of me in my last run, but otherwise I think we improved the car a lot over the weekend, also in qualifying trim, and that’s what really counts”

“It was a lonely qualifying for me and we ended up pretty much exactly where I expected. We were lacking the speed and therefore unable to get close to the Mercedes and Ferraris but the car still felt good so I had fun out there. Fifth was the best we could have done today and I achieved that. I’ll start tomorrow in fourth which of course is better but I never like to rely on penalties for other people to help, I wish I was there just on pace. We shall wait and see what the weather brings tomorrow, hopefully some rain as I think I have a better chance of challenging for a podium in the wet. At the beginning of Qualifying it looked like it could have been a nice chance to get up front but unfortunately the track dried out. I want to be realistic and not dream so I’m hoping my luck has changed and I can have a good, fun race tomorrow and bring the car home. I am not talking about podiums or winning for now. If something happens to the cars in front then we can challenge for a better result.”

“Today we had a very successful qualifying and will start the race just behind the top teams. I had a good rhythm and we had good times. The team made the right calls for the right track conditions; there was a nice flow. I was feeling calm and confident with the car so I was able to produce a good lap. The upgrades we brought here this weekend seemed to also have played their part in our step forward. That said, tomorrow’s race is the true test. Let’s try and have a clean race. We’ll push very hard and I’ll be very happy to bring points home.”

“It was a very difficult qualifying session and it was important to be on track at the right time, especially during Q1 the wet conditions. I was disappointed we didn’t finish one place higher and when the gap is so small you know you had the chance to be ahead. My final lap could have been better because I lost time running over the kerbs in the final corner so there was room to improve. On the other hand, we are still starting in a great place tomorrow. We have a strong car and if the weather conditions are similar there could be the opportunity to finish even higher up. We will keep our heads down and try to deliver the perfect race.”

“It’s been a really tough qualifying session, so I am happy to finish in eighth place. We decided to have a very late pit stop in Q1 to put slicks on. It was a calculated risk and we only took the decision at the final corner. I had one lap to get the time and I got blocked by Ericsson, but I still managed to improve my time even though it was very much on the limit. In Q2 I had my brakes on fire and during my second run I lost all radio contact with the team. I was there, driving alone, and I had to look out for the pit board like in the old times. I’ll be seventh on the grid tomorrow, which is not a bad place to start, especially considering everything that happened during this session. The conditions can be very unpredictable, like today, and if the rain comes anything can happen. We have been strong today and I am confident it can be the same tomorrow.”

“To take part in Q3 at Silverstone was a bit unexpected. But I’ve been working very well for the past couple of races, and we’ve clearly seen the improvements inside the team – in Azerbaijan, in Austria, and here at Silverstone this weekend, Fernando and I largely matched each other’s pace. It’s obviously a pretty good feeling to have made that extra step. “We’d been hoping to get a rainy mixed-condition qualifying for a long time, and I think we were pretty strong in these conditions all session long. Then, when the track got drier, we maximised every chance we got. “As usual, it’s very close in the midfield pack, and we usually see that some of the others have got a little something extra for qualifying. But I think the mixed conditions really helped us today. Every time I was on track, I managed to bank a good lap-time, and I think ninth in Q3 was really the maximum we could do today.”

Das Qualifying war hart. Startplatz neun ist nicht gerade ideal, aber wir starten morgen auf einem anderen Reifen als die Autos vor uns. Das könnte für einige gute Möglichkeiten sorgen. Die Softs sollten ein guter Rennreifen sein und ich weiß, dass hier alles möglich ist. Ich muss aufpassen, nicht im Verkehr stecken zu bleiben, aber die weichen Reifen sollten mir die Gelegenheit bieten, nach vorne zu kommen, wenn die anderen an die Box gehen. Die Fahrzeugbalance war nicht schlecht. Aber ich hatte richtig mit dem Grip zu kämpfen. Der Verbremser in Kurve drei auf meinem letzten Run kostete mich etwas Zeit. Aber das erklärt den Abstand zur Spitze nicht. Bei den kühleren Temperaturen nach dem Regen schien Lewis die Reifen heute besser auf Temperatur zu bringen als ich. Ich hatte einfach nicht genügend Haftung, um auf abtrocknender Strecke um die Pole mitzufahren. Das müssen wir uns heute Abend ansehen. Wir haben hier eindeutig ein schnelles Auto und wir waren das gesamte Wochenende über konkurrenzfähig. Deshalb werde ich morgen alles geben, um nach vorne zu kommen.

“I’m not totally happy with P10. The first run in Q3, I got completely blocked by Lewis Hamilton on the last corner losing me at good three-tenths. It cost me a least one position. With the second run I thought it was going to be fine, but I got to turn three and out of the blue I had massive rear-lock, so I lost almost half a second. I made it back over the lap, so I think we had much more performance than we were showing. I’m very unhappy with my first attempt being completely ruined at the last corner. Apart from all that, we were doing okay and doing a good job. It’s great to be in Q3 but there could’ve been so much more, so I’m a bit disappointed.”

“I had a really good feeling with the car today and I’m happy with that result. We could maybe have made up one tenth or so, but we’re starting in a much better place than we have done in recent races so I hope we can make progress and score some points tomorrow. I’m pretty confident that we can have a good race. The atmosphere all weekend has been awesome with so many Union Jacks in the stands – I’m loving the support. It’s good motivation and driving the track with these cars is so much fun at the moment.”

"I didn't feel completely confident with the car in this morning's FP3, but I gained it back in qualifying as the car felt better. With today's tricky conditions, I'd say a P12 was the best we could do – there was maybe one or two tenths on the table but, in these conditions, you're just a bit more careful as the track is drying and you're not sure exactly where to put your wheels. For tomorrow, if the conditions are the same as today's, it will all be about being in the right place at the right time and hopefully we can move up the grid and into the points."

"How annoying... Unfortunately, we suffered a suspension failure in Q2 which meant I couldn't get back out on track until the very final minutes of the session – I'd like to thank the mechanics for being so fast in getting the car out again! I managed to do a couple of laps, but the system was still not working as it should've, the car was behaving poorly, bouncing around a lot and I had no grip at the rear... So I wasn't able to do any representative laps in Q2 really. It's a shame, because we had a very good Q1 and managed to get into the top ten on the intermediate tyres. With these tricky conditions, it's difficult to say what to expect for tomorrow, but it will for sure be exciting – we have a good opportunity if the weather stays like this, as it opens up strategy options and opportunities and I look forward to a good race!"

I’m very disappointed with qualifying today. When you’re fighting for the top 10 in every session and then you get to qualifying and you finish 15th, it’s disappointing. I don’t know if it would have been enough to get me through to Q3, but I had a lot of traffic on my last set of tyres. We were quite tight with the time and I had to do an entire lap in the tow of a Toro Rosso. Without that traffic I could have done a clean lap at the best possible time in qualifying. I am disappointed but we’ll fight again tomorrow.

That was my first time in a Formula One car in the wet, and it was a really funny session with rain, drying conditions and intermediates. It was drying at the end and we had some graining on the tyres, so we couldn’t really go quicker. We got bumped by guys who put on slicks in the end and went quicker. I don't really count that as a normal qualifying where our pace is where we should be. It’s just disappointing. We only just missed out on Q2. We will see tomorrow what it will be like as the car is good in the dry.

“The car wasn’t too far off in the wet from where we were in the dry. We are not as strong as we expected. We need to look at why that is and try and understand it. Our race pace looked much better, but in qualifying over one lap, it wasn’t very competitive this weekend, which is a shame. The positive is that the race pace is good and that’s what we need to be quick. We’ll see what we can do.”

“The weather conditions definitely played a big part in how the day panned out. It was predominantly dry in the morning, and then started to rain lightly just before qualifying. Driving on intermediate tyres was good for the first few laps, but it became more and more difficult to improve the laptime as the track started to dry. In retrospect, it is a pity that we didn’t have enough time left in the session to switch to supersoft tyres. We may have even had a chance to make it to Q2 then. It certainly remains interesting, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

“It was a challenging qualifying due to the damp conditions. The first laps were looking good, but at the end of Q1 I had difficulties with the tyres overheating. I could not really improve on that set of tyres to make it into Q2. However, we made some progress in FP3 and closed the gap to our direct competitors. If we have similar race conditions as we did today in qualifying, we could have an interesting Grand Prix.”

“I’m not 100 percent sure what happened yet but it is a suspected turbo failure. I lost a bit of power down the straight and heard some weird turbo noises, I thought I could nurse it back to the pits but then it all switched off and we couldn’t save it for the session. I’m just disappointed not to show more of what we could do in qualifying as these conditions should have given us a bit more of an opportunity. We were quick straight out of the box today and I was P1 before the failure, so we look pretty good on the intermediate tyre. Tomorrow is where the points are, we’ve got to work hard to get back in there but it is what it is. Mixed weather could hopefully help me out but I think in either these or dry conditions we can fight through the field and get inside the top ten.”

“We made the right call at the end of Q1 by switching to Option tyres. We took advantage of a track that was on the limit at that moment – and it was nice to hear people cheering. It’s good for the guys in the garage as well: they deserve it as they have been working so hard these past couple of years, and, even if it’s just for one moment, to be up there at the top of the time sheets feels good. “Not making it into Q3 allows us to choose our tyres for the race. We’ll start last, owing to the penalties; starting on used Q2 tyres wouldn’t have been ideal, so we’re relatively happy with 13th. “Now we need to think about tomorrow. We proved today that we’re quite competitive in mixed conditions, so a wet/dry chaotic race could work in our favour. Hopefully it’ll stay like this tomorrow, weather-wise.”