Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

“I am happy with qualifying today. It is satisfying to see that the work we did in preparation, especially in terms of the way we set up the car for Q3, has paid off so quickly. A great result for me, unfortunately not for the whole team with Seb having a problem in Q3. Hopefully, we will have a good race tomorrow. I am happy about our tyre choice with the soft compound. It will be the key to have a good start and keep competitors behind, especially at the beginning of the lap. Our race pace was quite strong this weekend so I am confident that we can do a good job.”

“I’m really happy about qualifying. All weekend the car has felt competitive and also from the engine side we have worked really well with Honda to extract a little more power. To be third is great and I was smiling in the car when I finished the lap. We definitely got the most out of it today and through the corners we were really quick. To be closer to the pole time is also a great step forwards. As soon as I stopped the car and turned the engine off I could hear the crowd. There are so many Dutch and Austrian Red Bull fans here which gives me a lot of positive energy and motivation. I haven’t done a long run but normally we are a little stronger in the race than qualifying. There is a long way to go before we fight for victory but this is a really good start for the Team and we will give it everything we have tomorrow.” Max will start the race from second place due to Lewis Hamilton incurring a grid penalty

Der heutige Tag verlief eher suboptimal. Das ist schade, weil sich das Auto gut angefühlt hat und der Speed vorhanden war. Es hat einfach nur nicht zusammengepasst. Es gab ein kleines Kommunikationsproblem. Mir wurde gesagt, dass es keine Zeit mehr gab und so blieb ich hinter dem Auto vor mir stecken. Dadurch war ich viel zu nah dran, um mich noch einmal zu verbessern. Tatsächlich hatte ich aber noch einen Puffer, den ich hätte nutzen können. Wir hatten erwartet, dass es gegen Ferrari super eng zugehen würde, aber sie hatten einen kleinen Vorsprung. Die Pole Position lag heute außer Reichweite, dafür sind sie auf den Geraden einfach zu schnell. Aber morgen liegt noch ein langer Tag vor uns und aus der zweiten Startreihe bieten sich noch immer einige Chancen. Wir haben gesehen, dass auf der ersten Runde mit Wechseln auf der Geraden viel passieren kann. Deshalb werde ich mein Bestes geben.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Charles. Er war das gesamte Wochenende über schnell und wir konnten bislang nicht ganz mit Ferrari mithalten. Sie haben einen Leistungsvorteil auf den Geraden, aber sie scheinen auch etwas in den mittelschnellen und schnellen Kurven gefunden zu haben. Unser Auto fühlt sich gut an, aber wir können auf den Geraden nicht mehr herausholen – daran werden wir weiter arbeiten. Im Q1 gab es einen Zwischenfall mit Kimi. Ich ging von der Bremse, um ihm aus dem Weg zu gehen, da ich ihn nicht in der Kurve treffen wollte. Ich glaube nicht, dass das der Fall war, aber es hat ihn vielleicht etwas beeinträchtigt. Ich wusste nicht, dass ein Auto von hinten ankam, deshalb war es nicht so einfach. Es war schwierig, die richtige Position auf der Strecke zu finden, da ich immer vorne war und dadurch nie einen Windschatten bekam. Zum Glück erwischte ich für die letzte Runde eine gute Position, aber am Ende war es trotzdem knapp. Ich bin mit meiner Platzierung dennoch zufrieden. Es ist cool, dass drei verschiedene Teams auf den ersten drei Plätzen liegen. Ich bin heiß darauf, morgen auf die Strecke zu gehen und gegen diese Jungs Rennen zu fahren. Drücken wir die Daumen, dass wir eine gute Show zeigen können.

“It was a good quali. We knew it was going to be a tough and it turned out to be closer than at Paul Ricard. But we can all be pleased with starting P5 for the second race in a row – a great job by the team here and back at Woking. “It’s a good starting position. I’ll try to have a race like we had last week at Ricard. The key will be to consolidate my start position and stay out of trouble, and see where we end up. The high ambient and track temperatures are likely to have a big impact on the results.”

„Über das heutige Resultat können wir uns sehr freuen. An Speed fehlte es während des ganzen Wochenendes nicht, und wir haben im Qualifying das bekommen, was wir wollten. Alle liegen hier sehr dicht beieinander, und wenn man alles auf die Reihe bekommt, kann man weit nach vorn kommen. Ich denke, wir hätten vielleicht sogar Norris schnappen können, denn die Abstände sind so klein. Aber ich bin auch so zufrieden. Morgen wird es ernst, und wir werden versuchen, den bestmöglichen Job zu machen. Immer noch müssen wir uns verbessern, aber wir haben eine gute Ausgangsposition. In der Startrunde müssen wir vorsichtig sein und einen guten Job machen. Anschließend werden wir sehen, wo wir am Ende landen.“

„Mit der heutigen Leistung bin ich sehr zufrieden – mit meiner und der des ganzen Teams. Seit Frankreich hat unser Auto einen Schritt nach vorn gemacht. Ich habe von Mal zu Mal mehr Vertrauen, wenn ich in das Auto steige. Und was die Arbeit, die wir als Team gemeinsam leisten, betrifft, bin ich happy. Mit zwei Autos in der Top 10 haben wir eine gute Chance, Punkte zu holen. Wir müssen allerdings noch die beste Strategie für das Rennen ausarbeiten. Unser Tempo während der Long-Runs war gut, und ich denke, dass wir beim morgigen Kampf mitmischen können. Wir werden jedenfalls alles geben, um ein gutes Resultat heimzufahren.“

“It’s a shame and I’m disappointed with myself not to put my lap together when it really mattered. I didn’t do the job properly in Q3 and this is something I need to focus on. We had good pace and overall I think we made a step. We had a really good Free Practice and we managed to build everything up from there. There are a lot of positives to take from Q1 and Q2 where we were strong. Everything was looking good for Q3, my first lap wasn’t ideal but on my second and final run, I made a mistake into Turn One and by Turn Three I had lost three or four tenths, otherwise I think we could have been P5. Now I need to move on and focus on tomorrow. We can recover, nothing is done, and we’ll try everything to come back in the race. I think we have a strong car and now we need to look at what we can do with the strategy.” Pierre will start the race from eighth place due to Kevin Magnussen incurring a grid penalty

“It’s obviously bitterly disappointing on a day like this, when you have the car to fight for pole and you are not even taking part. There was a problem with the car so we lost a part of Q2 and all of Q3. We fairly quickly made a decision but we had to take the bodywork off and it was not easy to get to the faulty bit. The guys did everything they could but we could not fix it in time. I knew that if we’d fixed it, most likely I would have had only one run, so I was trying to focus only on that but it didn’t happen. As much as this is a pain, it’s good to see that Charles came through and got pole. I am happy for the team, obviously nor happy for my side. I think our car is quick this weekend, quicker than the people in front of us so I am looking forward to a good day and a good race tomorrow.”

“When it’s working, it’s working. I don’t know where that lap came from. It was there, and I took it. Today the guys have just worked so hard between FP3 and qualifying to get the gearbox changed. It wasn’t only my side of the garage, the other side came to help on my car too, to help get it ready. We have a few guys out injured this weekend as well, but everybody just pulled it together. After a few bad races, and a couple of bad qualifying’s, it’s nice to do this. We’re starting in the points, in the top ten, even with the penalty. If you’d asked us before qualifying if we’d have believed that, it would have been no way. I’m very happy.”

“I’m happy with qualifying. I was hoping to go into Q3, but I didn’t get a tow on my lap which cost a little bit. I had a lot of understeer in turn three, I lost a couple of tenths there, but I was fast everywhere else. It’s a bit annoying, but these tires are hard to understand, and I haven’t got the feeling yet in qualifying for them as I do in the race. I think we’ve made a good step forward though this weekend. Eleventh is not a bad place to start. I can choose my tires to start the race. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

“Austria has been one of our more challenging weekends, and we struggled all day today. It just wasn’t happening for us and we couldn’t find the pace. It’s a shame as we had a nice run of Q3 appearances in recent races. We’ll gain some positions with grid penalties tomorrow, but before then we need to find out what went wrong today.”

“We were very unlucky with traffic today. I didn't get a clean lap and it needed to be perfect here to get through. A few hundredths would have been enough - but unfortunately we didn't make it. I came up behind a Toro Rosso into Turn 3, so I lost a bit of time there. Then there was a lot of traffic at the end of the lap and I got too close to a Williams going into the final two corners. Between those two, we lost the few hundredths we needed. It's disappointing, because we've made some progress with the car at this circuit and we should have a stronger starting position. I think we have the potential to score points, so I hope we can achieve that tomorrow.”

“Q2 wasn’t far away today. We just need to find a few tenths and it will make a big difference, but that’s the reality of our current situation. I feel more positive about tomorrow because race pace has been one of our strengths this year and we looked more competitive during the long runs in practice. It’s going to be a very hot race and tyre management will be especially important. Let’s see what we can do with the strategy options to try and bring home some points.”

“It’s fair to say we’ve been struggling all weekend with the car. We’ve tried everything to find the right set-up. We did make a good step today. We didn’t have a clear second lap in Q2 and that certainly hindered our chances. I think we had more left in the car, maybe enough to see us through to Q3. Tomorrow is going to be very hot, it won’t be easy from near the back but we’ll give it a go.”

“Unfortunately, our Qualifying was ruined today because we were blocked in the second last corner which cost us a lot of time. I can’t say much more than it is very frustrating. The feeling with the car was good throughout the session and I was on a good lap time which would have put me through to Q2. It’s a shame not to be able to show what the car was able to do today due to these things which are out of my control. We will do our best to recover but it will be a difficult race. I think today we could have been in Q3, or at least close to it, so starting from where we are tomorrow on the grid is not ideal, but we will do our best.”

Qualifying went quite okay. On my second run, I managed to put in a reasonable lap although it is still not enough compared to the others. At least something positive is that, apart from turn one where I lost a bit of time, the rest of the lap was pretty good for me. Tomorrow will be busy with the short lap and blue flags. I hope to enjoy the beginning of the race, and hopefully we will not struggle too much with the tyres.

“It’s been a difficult Saturday for me. Not being able to compete out there today is very disappointing. Preparing the set-up for the race and not even using the performance engine modes made my qualifying very frustrating. "However, we knew it was going to be like that, and the target was to get into Q2 and help out Lando with a tow for Q3. Congrats to him and to the whole team for a strong performance. Tomorrow is another day and I’m sure I’ll wake up fully motivated for the race. We'll try to recover from the back and work our way up the field.”

“I’m reasonably happy with today, I think that’s the best we could have done if we consider my penalty and I think we did a good job. It’s true we have to start from the back of the grid, but I’ve done quite a few long runs this weekend and the pace looks good, so a points finish is always the target. Overtaking here is a bit easier than on other tracks so we will see what we can do. I feel my Qualifying is getting better in the past few races. I started off pretty strong, had a bit of a dip in the middle and I’m getting the rhythm again now.”

It felt like a fairly decent lap. We maximised the car, it’s just unfortunate it’s still a bit of a way from where we want to be, but we know our pace at the moment and we just need to make the most of it. During my final run I was warming my tyres up and there was a bunch of cars ahead doing the same. Daniil was on a flying lap and he closed quicker than expected due to the queue ahead. I tried to stay to the inside but the next thing I knew, he was driving around the outside of the track. It is a bit frustrating but just one of those things unfortunately. I apologise to Daniil as it was nothing intentional.