Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Das war ein fantastisches Wochenende! In der Vergangenheit war Singapur für mich nicht immer ein gutes Pflaster. Demnach ist dies ein ganz besonderer und umso emotionalerer Sieg für mich. Das Wochenende begann perfekt mit einem guten Qualifying. Danach hatte ich einen guten Start und konnte die Red Bulls sowie die Ferraris hinter mir halten. Beide Teams haben uns im vergangenen Jahr locker geschlagen. Am Schluss wurde es noch einmal eng, weil Daniel (Ricciardo) ein cleveres Timing beim Boxenstopp hatte. Wenn ich ebenfalls einen Stopp eingelegt hätte, wäre ich hinter ihm herausgekommen, da ich auf meiner In-Lap im Verkehr steckte. Deshalb entschieden wir uns dafür, dass es die beste Strategie war, draußen zu bleiben – vielen Dank an das Team dafür. Es ist großartig, dass wir aus unseren Fehlern aus dem vergangenen Jahr gelernt und nun auf einer eindeutigen Red Bull-Strecke gewonnen haben. Das zeigt die Kompetenz und die Stärke unserer Ingenieure. Jetzt freue ich mich auf Malaysia, aber zunächst werde ich diesen Sieg heute Abend gebührend feiern!

“It was close today. We did everything we could and I thought it was pretty much a perfect race. The only thing that would have been better was to get Nico at the start. Then throughout the race I wasn’t really thinking about what happens when I catch him I was just focusing on trying to catch him and put some pressure on. I knew his engineer had been on his radio saying: “Ricciardo is catching you two seconds a lap.” It’s not a nice feeling to hear that, so I was just trying to keep on pushing and keep the crowd entertained. I pushed so much at the end with that supersoft and really tried to do something but it wasn’t close enough. I don’t really leave here with any regrets. Obviously we came here to win and we didn’t but I felt we left it all on the track.”

Das war ein schwieriger Tag an einem insgesamt schwierigen Wochenende. Zu einem Zeitpunkt sah es sogar so aus, als ob ich noch nicht einmal auf dem Podium stehen würde. Aber zum Glück konnten wir das noch einmal abwenden. Mein Start war in Ordnung. Ich verlor keinen Boden, was nach dem letzten Start eine gute Sache war. Nachdem das Safety Car reingegangen war, hatte ich allerdings stark zu kämpfen. Die Bremsen waren für einen Großteil des Rennens im kritischen Temperaturbereich. Deshalb musste ich immer wieder zurückstecken, um sie zu kühlen. Dann machte ich einen Fehler und kam zu weit nach draußen – so konnte mich Kimi überholen. Als das Auto etwas leichter wurde, konnte ich die Temperaturen zum Glück wieder etwas absenken. Danach konnte ich auf den frischen Reifen etwas mehr angreifen und ihn beim Boxenstopp wieder überholen. Die Pace und die Strategie waren kein Problem – es rührte alles von den Bremsen her. Ab dem Start sah ich die Führenden davonfahren. Der zweite Platz wäre somit heute das Maximum gewesen. Wenn das mein schlimmstes Wochenende des Jahres ist, dann nehme ich das gerne so in Kauf. Wir werden immer wieder vor neue Prüfungen gestellt und ich freue mich jetzt schon auf die nächste. Dann werde ich es erneut probieren. Denn ich benötige nun ein paar starke Wochenenden, um wieder in die Position zu gelangen, in der ich mich schon einmal befunden habe.

”It was a good and solid race, the car was behaving well and we had a pretty good speed. Obviously it was very difficult to overtake, but at one point Hamilton made a mistake and I managed to pass him, then after the pit stop he got the position back. We lost the place there, I don’t know how and why they managed to jump us, and I don’t know what would have happened if we would have stayed out. Now we have to go through everything, see what happened and what we could have done better. Today we gained one place from the starting position, but of course this is not the result we are looking for, we are trying to be in position to win, but we need to make the car a bit faster.”

”We sure had a good strategy today, also we had the chance to make a big progress with a safety car, but it didn’t come, so P5 is a very good result. Thanks to the team, I had been a bit down after qualifying yesterday. What nobody wanted to happen has happened, so we had to deal with it and move on. My start was not good, then there was the accident so I took it a bit easy; most important, the car was still intact, but after the restart it was tricky to get the tires working, I was on the primes, I lost quite a lot of time behind the Sauber, it was quite tough to get past, but then it was important to survive until we fitted the last set of Ultrasofts at the end, where we really could unfold the pace. In the last laps we had a big gap from the front and from the back, so I took it easy. I know patience is not a quality of the Ferraristi, it’s not a quality of mine either, we are here to win and we’re not satisfied until it happens, but we’re progressing step by step and one day I think it will pay off. I believe in the team, and I believe that in the future it will be better.”

“I had a bad start, it wasn’t as bad as Monza but it wasn’t good, which is disappointing. I had a lot of wheel spin and then with Hulkenberg spinning in front of me, I had to brake even more which compromised my whole start. I got stuck behind slower cars in front of me and after three or four laps you lose the advantage and it completely destroys the tyres. I had some pretty intense battles which I enjoy but it’s tricky to pass here, so you do get a bit stuck. Dani and I fought quite hard, but we didn’t touch so that’s always a positive. I like overtaking, but I wasn’t fighting for a position that I would have liked so it’s not as much fun. We have to try and do better in Malaysia, but first we have to focus on getting the start where we’d like it to be.”

“Seventh was the maximum we could achieve today – the best of the rest after the two Mercedes, the two Red Bulls and the two Ferraris. We weren’t perhaps quite the fourth-fastest team here this weekend, so it’s thanks to good strategy and a good start that we were able to bring home this result. “I chose to go on the outside at the start, and the crash didn’t affect me as I was already up into sixth at that point. Then I braked very late for the first corner and got past Daniil [Kvyat] and Kimi [Raikkonen]. Everything went fine – sometimes you just need to get lucky. “For a time, I was even hoping for a podium finish – if something had happened ahead of me it could have worked out that way – but in fact it was one of those races in which nothing happened at the front. “But, overall, we did the best we could today.”

“I am so happy about tonight’s performance; it surely ranks as one of the best races in my career. To be able to do 36 laps on one set of soft tyres, in this heat, and to keep my position under pressure from Kvyat is a big achievement. Pitting on lap one put us behind Gutierrez and that impacted on our strategy: we lost a lot of time behind him and it was very hard on my tyres, which was not good for what was effectively a one-stop race. We knew stopping one time less than our rivals was the only way we could score points, so managing the tyres was crucial. There was no point fighting with Fernando [Alonso] after his last stop: he was in a different race and I knew I couldn’t afford to destroy my tyres that early in the stint. It was the same with Max [Verstappen] – on a day like this I had to race intelligently and pick my fights to make the strategy work. It’s a good result for the team and it puts us back in fourth place in the championship. It’s a shame that Nico’s race finished so early, but we were able to score some good points on a difficult night.”

“I think I did the most I could out there today – I had good fun and enjoyed some great battles! Unfortunately, after a first good stint things didn’t come together as expected… we ended up behind Perez and didn’t have enough straight-line speed to overtake him. I pushed until the very last centimetre and left my soul on the track – it’s a shame, but I’m happy to finish in the points again. In all fairness, the team did a good job after what’s been a tough period.”

“I’m very happy for the whole team as this must be a boost for all of us. It’s been a very demanding season as we all want to score points at every race, but that’s not been possible. Nevertheless we all keep fighting and a result like today shows why we fight and why we never give up. The team nailed it with the strategy, with the start and with the balance of the car. To drive a race like this and not to win it; it feels strange because for me it felt perfect.”

“It wasn’t an easy race, but I think the whole weekend we were pretty consistent. It’s this consistency that’s helping us to understand and work on the details and really try to improve. I lost a bit of time at the start and to recover that on track was pretty difficult. Trying to push the tires, I overheated them and they started to drop off at the end of the stint. However, we ended 11th, so close to the points again. We just need to keep optimistic and push forward. I’m proud of the crew. They’ve worked really well together. Although it hasn’t been a simple one this weekend, I believe that Malaysia will be better and we’ll have a better understanding of the car, which will help us attack the front.”

It was definitely a tough race. I’m not happy with everything that happened. The race was going well in the beginning, but with the strategy and being stuck in traffic things changed a little bit. Anyway, that’s the way it was. We now need to concentrate on the next race and try to score more points with both cars because today it wasn’t good.

„Es war ein forderndes Rennen. Der Start verlief etwas unglücklich, weil ein Auto in meiner Nähe gegen die Streckenbegrenzung prallte. Wegen dieses Unfalls verlor ich zwei Positionen. Dass es am Schluss von Startplatz 16 aus noch den 13. Rang gab, zeigt, dass ich Plätze wettmachen konnte. Rückblickend betrachtet machte sich die Zwei-Stopp-Strategie bezahlt und ich denke, ich habe mit diesem Resultat heute das Maximum herausgeholt.“

“I’m angry after today’s race, especially after having qualified in P6 yesterday. The race didn’t start well, as I had to avoid Max when the lights went out and, while doing that, a Force India suddenly came flying by and we collided. He took the worst part and I took the second worst part, damaging the right-hand side of my car. However, we still had decent pace after this and we were fighting for points, but we were forced to stop early as we were shown the black and orange flag and we re-joined the race behind too much traffic… Later on, halfway through the race, we had a problem with the Energy Recovery System and I had to run to the end trying to do the best I could. Days like today are very frustrating – nothing went right and when you have these kind of opportunities – starting P6 at a circuit like Singapore – you need to make sure you take them and today we didn’t. But I stay positive: the level of performance we’ve shown this weekend has been amazing and points would’ve certainly been possible tonight. It’s time to look forward to the next two races in Malaysia and Japan, where hopefully we’ll achieve a better result than today.”

“That was a tough race and we didn’t have any breaks come our way. I lost out with the shenanigans at the start and probably collected some debris as I had an early slow puncture too. We pitted pretty early and this meant we had to run for longer subsequent stints which meant nursing the tyres more than if we’d run the more balanced stint length planned. I lost a lot of time behind the Manors but it wasn’t possible to pass them on this track. The positive from today is we’ve seen that there’s still scope to get points if everything goes your way; that’s what I’m gunning for in Sepang.”

Pascal, not the result you were hoping for from your first Singapore Grand Prix experience. “Well, we’ve said all weekend this was not our track, but anyway we were P16 and with a Sauber behind me, so it was not so bad. I’ve loved the whole night race experience and I’m pretty happy.” How did the race pan out for you? “This was definitely the toughest race of the season. I was pushing hard from start to finish, but particularly from the midpoint of the race to make sure we kept Ericsson behind. Given our performance through the rest of the weekend, it was unexpected that we would have the pace to do that. I was also on the Ultrasoft for 26 laps in the final stint. I had to make that work, and I did, so again, I’m very happy with that.”

„Das ist natürlich ein enttäuschendes Rennresultat, wenn man vom 14. Platz aus gestartet ist. Der Start war noch gut, ich konnte mich danach auf P11 verbessern, bevor es zur Safety-Car-Phase kam. Nach dem Re-Start konnte ich ordentliche Rundenzeiten fahren und mich gegen die unmittelbaren Konkurrenten behaupten. Dann riskierten wir einen Strategiewechsel auf drei Stopps, der sich am Ende nicht bezahlt gemacht hat. Zudem habe ich nach dem ersten Boxenstopp an Rundenzeit eingebüsst, weil ich in den Verkehr gekommen bin. Nun gilt es, alles zu analysieren und es beim nächsten Grand Prix in Malaysia besser zu machen.“

Esteban, a tough race for you. “Yes, it was not the best. Pretty difficult, in fact. At the start I managed to avoid the debris that came from the incident involving Hulkenberg, but after that I picked up a penalty for passing under the safety car. I took the penalty at my first stop but that stop became even more problematic when there was an issue fitting the wheel. I lost so much time and it was very frustrating, because there was little I could do but focus on finishing the race. Then there was a second difficult stop and it was tough to be so far down.” A character-building weekend but have you enjoyed your first taste of F1 night racing? “Yes, Singapore is a very special place and a spectacular Grand Prix, so although I didn’t get the opportunity to show our strengths here, I have some good memories and experiences to take away. It’s my third race finish now and so I have six races remaining to put that work to good use, which is what we’ll do in Malaysia in two weeks’ time.”

“I might have retired on lap 43, but, to be honest, my race was effectively over on the first lap. “I got a very good start and pulled alongside Valtteri [Bottas], but I didn’t see Nico’s [Hulkenberg] car coming across the track until he was right in front of me, facing the wrong way. I lifted and pulled to the right, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go, so I tagged Valtteri with my front wing. That broke my front wing, brake duct and floor. “I pitted to change tyres and fit a new front wing, but the car had been damaged, so I was lacking downforce for the remainder of the race. Even then, the downforce I did have wasn’t properly balanced across the car, which made it even more difficult. “The reason we stopped was that we were concerned about the brakes – the temperatures were rising because of the duct damage. We were worried about a failure – it was the right decision to stop.”

“It’s extremely disappointing to end my race in the barrier after just 50 metres, especially because I had made such a good start – probably my best getaway off the line this year. I went for the gap between the two Toro Rossos, which was there, but obviously things got very tight. I had Daniil [Kvyat] on my right and Carlos [Sainz] on my left, and Carlos hit my left rear, which sent me into the wall. I think all the avoiding actions led to the gap I was in disappearing. So it was a really frustrating end for me, especially because all the good work we did on Friday and Saturday counted for nothing.”

“There’s not much to say, honestly. I lost the brake-by-wire and we couldn’t race like that. I don’t know what happened. I feel so bad for the guys. They gave their best in very tough conditions. It’s hard on everyone. From FP1 it was always going to be hard, missing the session. We now just have to work away to get to Malaysia, get the best setup, right updates, see where everything is working, and hope for a steadier weekend. I love the race here in Singapore and I love the challenge, but this weekend was just not ours.”

It was really bad today. It all went wrong before Turn 1. Someone touched my rear and I got a puncture, so we came into the pits. We went back out again but we saw that there was some damage on the car, so the pace was really poor. The car was sliding a lot and we didn’t really have the speed. We tried to do everything that we could but then had a mechanical problem so we had to retire.