Fahrerstimmen – Tag 2

Overall, I was happy with today, we delivered when it mattered and under a lot of pressure. It was good. We had a difficult weekend up until qualifying it has been a struggle. The track was improving but this tarmac has only recently been laid and is really sensitive, it has made things a little tricky so I needed that second lap. I knew coming into Turn 3 that you cannot leave anything on the table and it was important to make sure it was a strong lap. It never feels nice when you see another driver crashing or a red flag on track and I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to go again and not end the session there, but that was it. I just want to do well tomorrow, it’s a new day and anything can happen. I have to be fully committed and we have to try to do our own race. The target is to get the perfect launch and then the perfect race. I am very happy; I feel like I am in a good moment but it is a long season and it is all about consistency.

It was a very good qualifying session. Things have been a bit up and down for the last few events – Baku was very difficult – but, over a regular weekend format, we’ve been able to experiment with a few different options on the car. We put it all together for qualifying – the car felt good. And there was still a lot more pace in the car because my Q3 lap was done on used Softs. On my second run, on fresh rubber, I was already a few tenths up – but then the yellow flags came out. The result gives us a lot of confidence for tomorrow – Sunday is usually our day; we take care of the tyres and have good race pace. Plus, starting further up the grid always makes things a little easier. Getting on the podium will still be difficult but we’ll just do our race – it’s going to be tough but we’ll enjoy it.

It was coming together as a very good qualifying until the end. This P3 is not too bad, but I feel I had very strong pace and maybe we could have fought for more. It was an unfortunate moment for Charles but these things can happen and tomorrow we go again. The race will not be an easy one for sure and we’ll keep an eye on changing weather conditions. We’ll fight hard to bring home a good result!

I’m well chuffed with that! In the US, at the Miami Grand Prix, in front of our home crowd and title sponsor and other partners – it’s great to be able to get a result like that. Of course, there’s no points for qualifying – we know that – but we also know what it feels like to have a good qualifying. That was a lot of fun and hopefully that gets everyone a bit pumped up for tomorrow. I’m very happy to be starting P4 tomorrow and I’m really pumped.

I’m very pleased with today’s Qualifying and starting in fifth puts us in a good position for the race. It’s great that both Esteban and I are in the top ten to secure an important team result, especially after last weekend. It’s important for us to come back strong. The red flag was unfortunate just as we were about to begin our final lap on new Soft tyres as I was feeling pretty good and it would have been interesting to see where we would have finished. That said, my lap on used tyres was decent, enough to be fifth on the grid and we’re all looking ahead to tomorrow’s race where we must aim to convert this performance into points.

The car is just not working for us this weekend. We’re struggling a lot with the balance and it’s bouncing around a little bit. The performance isn’t coming to us which is a shame as everyone is working so hard to achieve it. As the grip has been laid down and the track has improved, we’ve seemingly got slower. Clearly, this is a bit of an outlier as a circuit as can be seen by the pace of some of the other cars. Ultimately though, we need to do a better job.

I’m not going to take any pride in qualifying P6. We’re working for more and we’re capable of more. It’s challenging as in FP1, everything felt smooth. As the weekend has progressed, the feeling in the car has got worse. It’s rare that that happens but it just hasn’t quite come together here in Miami.

I pushed too hard on my last lap in Q3 and there are no excuses to be made. We will start from P7 tomorrow and the weather looks like it could mix things up. I hope to have a clean race and will push to make my way back to the front.

What a difference a week makes. I’m proud of the team for this strong recovery after our disappointment in Baku and we very much deserved to have both cars in Q3 in Qualifying. We were probably a little unlucky with the red flag at the end as I do feel there was more on the table and we could have been higher up the grid. We’re still in a good position for tomorrow’s race and we have a good enough car here to come away from this weekend with points in the bag.

The initial problem starts with me today, I was taking the car to its limit and I made a mistake. I had to abort the lap and then you rely on a bit of luck that there won’t be a red flag. It’s painful and upsetting, we’ve been really quick all weekend, my fastest lap in Q2 would have been quick enough for pole which I think says that we have a quick enough car. Of course, I go into every weekend trying to win, but starting ninth is not the optimum position. My minimum target tomorrow should be P2. It’s going to be tough tomorrow for sure, but I made it tough for myself.

It’s great to be back in Q3 and I’m very pleased to be in the top ten ahead of the race. We made a big step forward overnight and managed to get the most out of the setup, which shows the team is doing a good job at bouncing back from the last few races. The red flag in Q3 obviously penalised us: I only had one set of tyres left and couldn’t set a time when the session was interrupted, but I think we could have been even higher up in the standings. There’s no point focusing on that, however: the potential for a good result is there and we must prepare well to fight for points tomorrow. It’s going to be a long race and, as we have seen, it is very easy to make a mistake here; but we are confident and motivated, and if we do our jobs well, we have a solid chance to bring home a good result.

I think we maximised everything in Qualifying and we’re in a good position for tomorrow. Sometimes you get upset because you’re so close to Q3 but then you have to remember, it’s still a good job. I’m happy with the lap that I did and we did what was right for our car. We really need a clean out lap to get the tyres in a good place and that’s why we tend to do a bit better on a Saturday than other teams. With the track evolution the way it is, it’s so aggressive, much more than most tracks we go to because the grips so low, so that five minutes is enough for the track to be another tenth, and that means Q3. It’s a big unknown what the tyres are going to do in the race but starting P11, hopefully we can turn it into something tomorrow.

The car felt good, and we definitely should be in the top 10 but unfortunately my last run got really compromised on the out lap in traffic, and I didn’t do the second lap on new tires – my Q2 time was on used tires. It’s frustrating and a big shame as the car had a lot more in it and a lot more potential. The car fits well to this place so at least that is a big positive for tomorrow – heading into the race with some pace.

It was a struggle out there as we weren’t that quick today. It was quite an up and down session; there were a couple of good moments where the car was feeling alive, and I thought we were going to be OK. It was frustrating that we didn’t get into Q3 as we should have. I was hopeful, but the timing at the end was just off. I got backed up by a lot of traffic in the final corner and just couldn’t get the tyres in the window. Overall, we just struggled with the balance of the car. I gave it everything I had but it didn’t happen today. I’ll now get my head down and try and come back tomorrow.

Today has been a good day for the team and a sign that we can get back into the fight for points. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car, especially compared to the last few races, so we are moving in the right direction. Q1 has been a clean session for me, but in Q2 I suffered a bit being at the front of the pack. I missed the slipstream and, in such a tight field, that was enough not to make the cut. Miami is a tricky circuit and traffic in the final sector, especially in Q1, was a bit of an issue; nevertheless, I am happy to see our package working well around here, as this is a big motivation ahead of tomorrow. We will give everything, in the knowledge we have the pace to fight for the points.

Of course, we always want more but looking at FP1 and FP2, we as a team are satisfied and happy with the performance gains we made. We found ourselves on the backfoot, but the progress we made overnight helped us reach Q2 for the first time, which is a great accomplishment for us. We are lacking long run experience here and overtaking is difficult, but it will be a long race and maybe there will be opportunities, which we can capitalise on. Grip levels are low, especially if you are off-line it can become very slippery, but it’s a new day tomorrow and the race is on!

Tough day for us. Not the result we wanted but almost the best we could have done. I made a small mistake which might have cost me one position, but the fact is we just didn’t have the pace to be competitive today. It’s a shame but we’ll have to try to do what we can to go forwards tomorrow.

It’s definitely not the result we wanted. We didn’t have the pace from the early stages and struggled a lot. The midfield is as close as it has been over the past few races, but tomorrow is a new day, so we will see how it goes. We changed the setup a lot, still it didn’t seem to work well, but we have to move on and remain focussed. The balance itself was alright, however the grip was poor. We have to accept it’s difficult and it’s not my best qualifying, but we’ll analyse all the data tonight, trying to find some more performance for tomorrow.

Qualifying didn’t go my way today. We made the call to try and get through Q1 running just one set of Softs. With the benefit of hindsight, that wasn’t the right call: other teams fitted a second set and saw big improvements. But these things happen – and Fernando got into Q2 using just the one set, so it was possible. I’m just focusing on the positives: our car feels good and our race pace is usually very competitive. Tomorrow is when the points are scored – and there’s a long race ahead.

I'm disappointed to be out in Q1. It was very close between everone around us. We knew it was going to be tough today and so it proved. We’ll have a look and see what we can do tomorrow to try to move forwards.

We made a pretty good step from FP3 to Quali and had the car in a good place. I had the couple of tenths needed to advance to Q2. I needed to do it on the first push, but I did it on the second and I felt like the tyres were graining towards the second and third sectors of that lap. It was extremely tight out there with fine margins. We’ll take the positives which should leave us in a better place for the race. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’ll try and be opportunistic and make the most of it.