Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

Das Qualifying fing okay an, aber dann blickt man aus der Box heraus und sieht, dass es regnet, nieselt und sehr nass ist. Ich habe einige Dreher von anderen Autos gesehen. Es war sehr schwierig, abzuschätzen, ob die Strecke trocken oder nass sein würde. Wir hatten kein Training im Nassen und es sah so aus, als ob es im Q3 nass sein würde. Wir haben in der Box darauf gewartet, dass jemand anderes rausfahren würde. Ich denke, dass wir heute als Team die richtigen Entscheidungen getroffen haben. Es war heute eine Art Anti-Klimax, weil wir keine zweite Runde fahren konnten. Sie haben beim Timing hervorragende Arbeit abgeliefert und keine Fehler begangen, obwohl, wie immer im Qualifying, viel Druck auf ihnen lastete. Dennoch blieben alle cool, ruhig und gesammelt und haben den Job gemeinsam als Team erledigt. Es ist wirklich eine fantastische Erfahrung mit diesem Team und ich denke nicht, dass diese mit 80 Pole Position enden wird. Es ist jedoch ein Meilenstein, auf den ich sehr stolz bin. Die vergangenen sechs Jahre mit diesem Team waren absolut unglaublich und ich bin sehr stolz auf jeden Einzelnen und wahnsinnig dankbar für all die harte Arbeit, die alle leisten, damit ich rausfahren und meine Leistung bringen kann.

Zunächst möchte ich Lewis zu seiner 80. Pole Position gratulieren - das ist eine große Zahl und er verdient sehr viel Respekt dafür. Die Autos waren heute und am gesamten Wochenende richtig schnell und das Qualifying hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht. Ich hatte im dritten Training einige Schwierigkeiten; das Auto fühlte sich überhaupt nicht stabil an und ich hatte damit zu kämpfen, Vertrauen ins Auto aufzubauen. Im Qualifying wurde es aber besser und ab dem Q2 fühlte es sich ziemlich gut an. Am Ende kam es auf diese eine Runde im Q3 an. Ich habe im zweiten und dritten Sektor ein bisschen Zeit liegenlassen, aber es hat Spaß gemacht. Jeder in unserem Team sollte sehr stolz auf das heutige Ergebnis, auf unser Auto und darauf, wie unser Team heute gearbeitet hat, sein. Jede einzelne Entscheidung war richtig und alle sind ruhig geblieben. Von außen mag es nach einem hektischen Qualifying ausgesehen haben, aber im Team waren alle ruhig. Wir haben uns an unseren Plan gehalten und die richtigen Entscheidungen getroffen, die schlussendlich zu diesem Ergebnis geführt haben.

“Today as a team we made no mistakes, on or off the track. We managed to optimise the set-up and conditions in Q3 which resulted in a really good grid position to start from tomorrow. It was crucial that we swapped the intermediates to slicks at the beginning of Q3, this allowed us to get out ahead of Ferrari and set a strong lap time. I was a lot more satisfied with my feeling and performance in the car compared to yesterday. The hard work the guys put in overnight showed and meant I could have a good qualifying session. I think the Mercedes will be too quick for us to challenge come the race, but with a good start who knows. Sebastian will be looking to come through the pack quickly so I may have some defending to do at some point, I will of course do my best to hang onto my position. We need to concentrate on doing the best possible strategy from our side and then hopefully finish on the podium.”

“It was a tricky qualifying with mixed conditions. In Q3 we thought that the rain would come earlier, so we decided to go out on Intermediate tires. Unfortunately it did not happen and then we were a bit off with the timing. We came in to fit the Supersoft , but in turn 14 I touched a wet kerb, ran a bit wide and lost some time. Obviously fourth place is not ideal, but at least we were able to put a lap together despite the mistake. Third position could have been easily possible. It’s a pity we did not get it today; the feeling with the car was getting better and better in qualifying. For sure tomorrow is going to be tricky, but we will do our best”.

“It’s a great day. I’m very happy with the changes we made from FP3 to qualifying to get the feel back in the car. And with the way it behaved in qualifying, we had the courage to put the softs on in Q2 and try to go through on that, which we did. Q3, with one lap, I love it. You know the rain is coming and you’ve got to put everything together. That’s the feeling that I prefer. I had a great lap. You always look afterwards and I was only two tenths from Kimi (Räikkönen). We’re in a great spot to start the race. Starting on the soft will be a big advantage compared to the supersoft, especially with the high temperature tomorrow. We’ll do our best on our side. We’ll see at the end where we are.”

"I was so happy with that! I was actually a bit emotional on the in-lap. I wouldn't normally get emotional, but it was just the build-up of all of the effort we've put in and the struggles I've been having at times during the season. It was nice that today everything worked and went my way and I delivered when I needed to. It was a tricky Qualifying session with the weather, but the team played the strategy perfectly as we were on the track at the right time. To get sixth position on the grid in front of all the Honda and Japanese fans feels fantastic. Now I need to consolidate the points, but I'll enjoy the feeling for the moment."

"It's a fantastic result today, sixth and seventh for Honda in Suzuka is clearly a really good job compared with some of the others we had this year - I'm really happy for the team! It's probably the best Qualifying for the team since the beginning of the year, and to do it in Japan is really special. Suzuka is difficult to overtake, so we really need to focus on the start. Both Brendon and I have felt good in the car all weekend so we'll keep pushing as we have some fast cars around us. We'll have to fight hard, but hopefully we can have a good start and give Romain a hard time in P5. Since the beginning of the season we managed to make it work and catch the opportunities we have had, so once more we need to stay focussed and really try to get the best result possible."

“At the beginning of Q3, I was asked if it was ok for me to go out on Inters and I said yes. Obviously, it was the wrong decision and now it’s easy to say, but it could have been the other way around. We thought there could have been more rain, but in the end it didn’t come. If it had rained five minutes before, it would have been a different story. However, it wasn’t our session in terms of timing and we’ve been through similar situations a couple of time so far. We are a team, so now we accept together the consequences. Tomorrow is another day, it won’t be easy as we start from the back, but it’s not impossible”.

“I am not very happy with my qualifying result because I think I should have been in front of quite a few other cars. It was a difficult session from the beginning of Q1. I was completing my lap when the red flag for Ericsson’s crash came out: I was just metres away from the line but I didn’t get a lap and I had to go again. In Q3 I went wide and lost a lot of time on my first lap when the track was at its best so there is definitely the feeling I could have done a lot more today. We need to make up some ground tomorrow. We start in the top ten and we have good pace so good points are achievable.”

“Es ist schade, dass wir es nicht ins Q3 geschafft haben. Allerdings haben wir den Vorteil, dass wir auswählen können, auf welchen Reifen wir das Rennen starten werden. Die Rundenzeiten waren heute zufriedenstellend. Ich habe auf meiner ersten gezeiteten Runde in Q2 einen kleinen Fehler gemacht. Daraufhin war es leider nicht mehr möglich diese zu verbessern, da es anfing zu regnen. Allgemein war es aber ein positiver Tag und wir sehen, dass wir Potential haben im Rennen gute Resultate zu erzielen. Ich freue mich darauf wieder im Auto zu sein.”

“Eighth place is okay, but I’m not satisfied because we didn’t maximise our potential today. Our approach to Q3 meant we fuelled up for a few laps because we felt the track would dry up and keep improving. In reality the track was already quite dry right from the start of Q3 and that’s when the track was at its best, but we were heavy on fuel. Then, by the time we started our second run, the rain was getting heavier. Well done to the others who judged it better than us – that’s what can happen in those wet sessions. So I think we had the potential for more and I know we can be strong in the race. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

“I didn’t get the lap time on the first run in Q2 on the softs. Gasly came out of the pit as I started my fast lap – he didn’t do it on purpose, but in sector one it’s just impossible to get out of the way. I was driving behind him, lost downforce, then I made a mistake which cost the lap. It was just bad luck and the nature of the track. It’s frustrating, as I think I could’ve been in Q3 on the soft tire. That was our plan, to go through to Q3 on the soft and start the race on softs. We tried to get out on supersofts to get us into Q3, but it didn’t happen due to the rain. I’ll probably start on the soft tomorrow with the free tire choice. A few people around me won’t, so I think we could have an advantage on them if the supersoft falls apart quickly. Perhaps they’ll fall into traffic when they pit, then I can go along and hopefully get the jump.”

“We thought there was a possibility of the top ten but we weren’t able to make a big enough step in pace. In general, today was pretty tough. Qualifying could have been a bit better as the rain came sooner than we expected so I wasn’t able to set a lap on new tyres in Q2. My first run in Q2 with a used set was just not enough and it’s difficult to say how much faster I could have gone with that new set. But, points are given out tomorrow so let’s see what happens.”

Although the rain came at the wrong moment in Q2, I am still very happy and really satisfied to get through and into it, as we didn't expect that today. The car felt like it was working beneath me and I knew it was going to be a big step from my first run to my second run. I tidied up my mistakes from that first run in Q1, and then it was a combination of everything. I had a good engineer to set-up the car well, used every bit of the road, committed to every corner, the lap was pretty good, and the car felt alive beneath me. All those key points came together, but we didn't expect to be able to compete with the other teams. I know we have got some quicker cars behind us, Ricciardo for example is going to fly through the field, and I am not going to spend too much time trying to keep him behind. I am going to do my race and hopefully we can pick up some positions at the start and go from there.

“As soon as I came through the last chicane to start my fast lap I immediately felt that something was wrong. I just didn’t have full power and I could hear the turbo or something wasn’t healthy. I came to the pits and we tried to fix it but I think it’s something terminal. Then it started raining, I think if we had got out again and it was raining and I couldn’t get a lap in, then it could have been even more painful. I just can’t catch a break at the moment and I’m pretty fed up with it. I’m doing everything I can and applying myself the best way that I know how to, but it’s not working so hopefully it turns around soon. It makes me angry because if it was on me and I was slacking off then it would be different, but I still want to do the best I can for Red Bull until the end of the year and every race is important.”

“My crew worked hard to get the car ready for qualifying and it was bad timing on my behalf to crash at the end of FP3. The car felt fine straight away and I was actually surprised we didn’t get through Q1 as both my laps felt pretty good. The improvement in my second lap simply wasn’t enough to get me through so that’s frustrating. It’s going to be challenging and difficult tomorrow, but of course we will fight.”

I think it was a good session. We weren’t the luckiest with the traffic we had on our out-lap, so when I started my lap, the tyres weren’t the best prepared but apart from that I think I should be very happy with the lap I did. It was one hundred percent from my side and the same for how we optimised the car and how we put everything together operationally. We got the car at its best for the last run so, I’m not too happy with the fact that we’re not through, but I’m happy with how it felt and the job that we did.

“It has been tough today. We are the last two cars so definitely not the best performance so far. This whole weekend we have been slow in every session, with any tyre, as this high-efficiency circuit seems to hurt us more than others. Aero efficiency is what we are lacking and especially here you need a car with lots of downforce and very low drag for the long straights. “We know in what areas we need to improve, and it has been part of the job we’ve been doing in the last couple of races – trying to make sure next year’s car is stronger than this year’s. “In qualifying the balance of the car was good, so it wasn’t like we could have found any more time anywhere. Our pace is what it is, so it’s going to be a difficult race for us tomorrow, trying to recover from the back.”

“It’s been a tough weekend for us and I think in a way it’s not been a surprise. We’ve been uncompetitive all weekend and our performance is similar to how we were in Russia. “When it comes to qualifying, we don’t seem to be able to make a small step forward. Hopefully in the race we should be a little bit better, but it’s a circuit where it’s difficult to overtake, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes. “Hopefully a little bit more happens during the race and we can benefit from that. It shows we still have a big deficit to catch up. It will be good if tomorrow turns out to be a hot race, as it could introduce a bit of blistering on some of the tyres. We’ve been good when races have been like that, and tyre management is key. Strategy could make a difference.”

“Es ist enttäuschend, das Qualifying nach einem sonst starken Wochenende so zu beenden. Leider lief es nicht so wie ich es mir gewünscht hatte. Das Wetter hat es heute schwierig gemacht zu fahren. Als ich auf Kurve 7 zukam, war ich etwas zu schnell unterwegs und der Wind in diesem Sektor war ziemlich stark. Ich kam von der Strecke ab und musste das Qualifying beenden. Es ist schade, aber wir werden morgen alles tun, um so viele Positionen wie möglich zurückzugewinnen.”