Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

“As you can probably tell, I’m pretty happy right now. I know it’s only qualifying but actually it’s pretty special and this is only the third time in my career that I’ve been on pole. Every other time was Monaco, it starts with an M but this time it’s Mexico. Putting the lap together right at the very end, when Max had dominated in practice and then Mercedes came on so strong made it even more exciting. I don’t think anyone expected me to do it but I knew there was some extra speed in me and I’m happy to have found it. I knew I could clean up my first lap in Q3 and the first sector on my second lap was still average, but in the second sector I was building and I was pretty pumped up by the third. It feels awesome to be back at the front and it feels right. It’s been a challenging year and I’ve been wanting to finish on a high with Red Bull, so hopefully my run of poor fortune has come to an end and we can deliver what we all want tomorrow. This is the first front row lockout for the Team since 2013 so it’s a really big day for us all. I don’t think it will be a straightforward race and it will certainly be interesting, but hopefully it will be interesting for all the right reasons. It’s going to be a good fight with Max, Lewis and Seb but if we can convert a double front row into a double podium then the entire Team will leave Mexico very happy.”

“It’s really disappointing to be consistently the fastest all weekend, and then not when it counts. I felt comfortable going into qualifying but I soon experienced similar issues that I had felt in FP2, the rear was locking while I was off throttle during cornering. I felt like I couldn’t push the car to its limit, which you need to do in Q3 as it is the most important session. I was surprised to be on top of the time sheet at the start of Q3 but in the end it wasn’t enough to take the pole. The issue should be less influential tomorrow which means we can both have a good race. Given today’s frustration we are still in really strong shape going into Sunday, it’s just a shame to miss the pole. The fact we have locked out the front row for the first time in years is a brilliant result for the Team, you can’t beat first and second.”

Ich möchte mich bei allen Teammitgliedern in der Fabrik und hier an der Rennstrecke bedanken. Jeder hat unheimlich hart gearbeitet, um das Auto heute auf diesen Stand zu bringen. Red Bull war im Mittelsektor richtig schnell. Der Renault-Motor scheint in dieser Höhenlage gut zu funktionieren und das gleiche gilt für ihr „High-Downforce“-Paket. Sie sind heute wahrscheinlich in einer eigenen Liga gefahren. Deshalb bin ich froh, dass ich so nah herankommen konnte. Unsere Rennpace war am Freitag nicht schlecht, aber Red Bull scheint die Oberhand zu haben. Wir konnten uns seit gestern ziemlich steigern, also hoffe ich natürlich, dass wir gegen sie kämpfen und vielleicht am Start ein bisschen Boden gutmachen können. Mexiko ist ein fantastisches Land und ein großartiger Austragungsort. Jetzt freue ich mich auf morgen. Auf geht‘s!

“I was pretty happy with my forst run in Q3, but I knew that in order to beat the Red Bulls I would have needed probably a couple of tenths more. So I tried to push harder in my last attempt and it didn’t work, the lap was not so far away from the previous one but not a very clean one, either, and I lost a bit of time in some places. This is a track in which aerodynamic efficiency is probably not so important, you try to throw in all the downforce you can, and I could see that we were fast in the first sector but losing out elsewhere. Anyway, it will be a long race tomorrow, and again I think strategy and tyre management will be the key to succeed”.

Das gesamte Team hat gestern Abend und heute großartige Arbeit abgeliefert. Es hat für uns heute nicht toll ausgesehen, aber das Auto fühlte sich viel besser an und wir konnten viel von unserer Performance zurückholen. Ich möchte mich auch bei unseren Mechanikern bedanken, die eine fantastische Leistung vollbracht haben. Sie haben in weniger als eineinhalb Stunden das Auto auseinandergenommen und den Motor gewechselt – und das Auto funktionierte hinterher einwandfrei. Nach der Reparatur verlief das Qualifying relativ unkompliziert, aber ich bekam im Q3 keine perfekte Runde zusammen. Es hat sich nie so gut wie auf den vorherigen Qualifying-Runs angefühlt. Aber immerhin waren wir viel näher an der Spitze dran als am Freitag. Die erste Reihe war für uns heute wohl außer Reichweite, aber unsere Zeiten waren zumindest sehr nah an denen von Ferrari dran. Nach dem Start folgt eine lange Gerade, deshalb könnte es vielleicht sogar von Vorteil sein, nicht aus Reihe eins zu starten. Dafür müssen wir aber einen Windschatten von den Autos vor uns bekommen. Das Rennen sollte auf jeden Fall spannend werden.

“Today, the overall feeling with the car was better than yesterday; we improved and that’s a positive fact. In qualifying some laps were pretty good in some places and in the next one they were better in other places, so it was hard to put the lap together. In the cooler conditions of this morning it seemed to be much easier. For sure it was not the easiest qualifying, but this is how it goes sometimes. It’s going to be a long and difficult race for sure. The top three teams start with the same tires, so we’ll see how it pans out. There’s a long run down the straight to the first corner; we’ll try to make a good start and stay out of any issue. The first corner is usually quite hectic and tight: if you manage to get a good tow, it makes a massive difference. Then we’ll see what happens in the race . The tires management will be the key.

“It’s fun to be fighting inside the top ten for a good position and I’m happy with the way we got the most out of the car. I’m pleased and happy with my laps in what was a pretty intense qualifying session. The car seems to work well with the circuit characteristics we have in Mexico, and I’ve no concerns about any different weather conditions we could face in the race. It’s another day with another big job to do tomorrow.”

“It was a very good qualifying for the team today. We’ve confirmed we’re in a better place than in previous races and we’ve found a bit more performance in the car, so we can be happy with that. From a personal point of view, qualifying could have gone better as I was fighting the balance of the car and I had a lot of oversteer. I wasn’t feeling so happy in the car, but we still made Q3. We always want more, so we’ll be fighting tomorrow to ensure it’s another successful team result with double points.”

“Ich bin mit dem heutigen Qualifying zufrieden – ein neunter Platz und wieder ein Q3. Unsere Leistung sieht stark aus und wir haben uns seit gestern gut erholt. Es wird eine Herausforderung sein, unsere Konkurrenten hinter uns zu behalten, da wir auf den hyperweichen Reifen starten, auf denen wir im Q3 gefahren sind. Wir werden das Beste daraus machen und hoffentlich können wir Punkte sammeln, nachdem wir in den letzten zwei Rennen weniger Glück hatten.”

“Nachdem wir gestern einen schwierigen Tag hatten, haben wir hart gearbeitet, um uns für das Qualifying zu verbessern. Die heutigen Resultate zeigen eine tolle Leistung von unserem Team, sowohl an der Rennstrecke als auch in der Fabrik in Hinwil. Wir haben für heute einige Änderungen vorgenommen, die sich ausgezahlt haben. Das Auto hat sich viel besser angefühlt und wir konnten bereits in FP3 deutliche Fortschritte erkennen. Das Qualifying war toll und es war ein tolles Gefühl, es ins Q3 zu schaffen. Wir haben eine gute Arbeit geleistet und sollten morgen gute Chancen haben, um positive Resultate zu kämpfen, da wir mit beiden Autos in den Top 10 starten.”

“P11 is an interesting place to start the race. We went into qualifying knowing that we really didn’t want to start the race on the hypersoft tyres and that’s why we ran on the harder compound [the ultrasoft] during Q2. Being P11 means I can choose my tyres for the start of the race and we have more flexibility with our strategy. So I hope our approach to qualifying will pay us back tomorrow. We could have been higher up the grid if we had used the hypersofts, but I am happy with the way we approached the session. It’s going to be a big fight tomorrow against the Renaults and the Saubers, but they will be starting on hypersofts and they should run a different strategy compared to us. Let’s see how things play out tomorrow.”

“My qualifying lap wasn’t perfect today. I had a little bit of understeer in the high-speed corners with the last set of tyres, so I wasn’t totally happy or proud of my lap. We made a few mistakes here and there and lost a couple of tenths, so when I crossed the line and they told me over the radio I was P12, realistically speaking, it was much better than we thought. After being out of Q1 in the last four races, the position we achieved today is nice, and points are a little bit closer than at previous grands prix. “The Renault engine is working well here. It’s not suffering maybe as much as the others with the altitude, and our good long-run pace yesterday leaves us quite optimistic for tomorrow. “It’s going to be an emotional race tomorrow, as we have a lot of fans here and a lot of support. It’s going to be special!”

“We had the pace to go into Q3 with the hypersoft tyres, but we didn’t think it was worth the risk to start on those tyres. We knew it would be hard to make it into the top ten on the ultrasofts, but starting on a harder compound should give us an advantage tomorrow – we basically chose a better strategy over grid position. My only regret is that Fernando [Alonso] is ahead of me: I lacked a bit of grip in the final part of my Q2 lap and he was able to be ahead of me on hypersofts. I am confident about our chances tomorrow. We believe our strategy is the correct one and we can move forward in the race.”

"I think today we definitely had the pace to go through to Q3, but I'm disappointed with that last lap. I had been really happy with the car all weekend and Q1 was great, I was P10 and I think that was representative to where we could have been at the end of Q2. We only had one set of new Hypersofts left for Q2, and in the last run we didn't get the aero balance on the track evolution. I locked the brakes into Turn 12 on my last lap, went off the track and lost enough time to just miss out on Q3 - in Qualifying we are always pushing it to the limit! As for the race, the tyres will be a big topic tomorrow. I need a good first lap like I had in Austin. We scored points last week from P20, so from P14 tomorrow it must be possible! We've been strong all weekend, so I hope to bring home some more points."

“It was actually a pretty decent qualifying effort. The times were extremely close and it’s a shame to miss out on Q2 by a couple of hundredths, but it just shows how close the field is. It’s a bit colder today which made it a little bit easier on the tyres. We’ll see tomorrow what the race will bring – hopefully tyre degradation will continue to be a big factor, and we’ll see how that pans out in the race. “There’s always a little bit you can improve – it’s tricky around here because of the altitude, but it’s the same for everyone. In general, I was reasonably happy with my lap and I think it was pretty close to the maximum possible today. “We’ve probably been a little bit closer here this weekend than expected and I hope we can show that tomorrow. I think it gives us opportunities, especially if the tyre degradation continues as we’ve seen this week. “We’re going to have to be a bit lucky in order to bring home some good results. There’s always chaos here on the opening laps with all those tight corners. I remember I started last here last year and I think I made up eight places on lap one, so a lot can happen and I’ll try to do the same tomorrow!”

“Both cars out of qualifying in Q1 is very disappointing. We just couldn’t make the tires work. Every time we went out on a new tire, it was completely different. You try to correct every time you go out, to fine tune the balance, but then you go out and find something completely different. It was just impossible. Other people have made a better job of it today with the tires than we have, so we need to go away and improve on that. Anything can happen on a Sunday – we know that – but, of course, it’s disappointing for today. It doesn’t put you in a great mindset for tomorrow, but we’ll do everything we can to maximize things for the race.”

I was on a good lap on my second run and I thought we could improve half a second or something with the track improvement, but I made a mistake in turn seven and had to run wide. Maybe another position was possible, but we had a seven tenths gap. We were quite a bit off the pace and far from being competitive this weekend. Realistically it is going to be challenging in the race, but we will see what we can do.

“We got better, but not enough. The midfield is just super tight, with two tenths the difference to P10. Three runs in Q1 on the hypersofts – to maximize our chances – just didn’t work. We need to analyze what we can do better and why we’re just not good here. There’s obviously something that happens here at this circuit. We’ve been competitive everywhere this year, but here, every year, it’s complicated. We’re not giving up. It’s a tough race for the engines, brakes, drivers, everything. Hopefully we can get it good tomorrow.”

It was a very difficult session, all the way through the day it was warming up and getting hotter, making it tougher for us. I drove a very bad lap which I take full responsibility for and I am disappointed with that. I couldn’t maximise the performance the car could potentially allow us, so a very disappointing day.

"I think our Qualifying today was good, but our main focus was on tomorrow's race after the penalty we have. I was really happy with Q1, I did a good lap which could have been better if Stroll didn't make a mistake. To get through to Q2 was great but it was frustrating not to be able to compete. As we saw high degradation on Friday, the tyre management will be key tomorrow, and we have to be smart with our strategy. I felt good with the car, and starting last tomorrow I hope I can have some exciting battles on track."