Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Ich habe heute gemischte Gefühle. Valtteri hatte den Sieg verdient, er hat eine außergewöhnliche und fehlerfreie Leistung gezeigt. Es war ein richtig verrücktes und aufregendes Rennen, in dem ich nie aufgegeben habe. Ich habe immer angegriffen, aber ich hatte richtig zu kämpfen. Ich bin unglaublich dankbar, heute hier gewonnen zu haben. Es gibt immer Höhen und Tiefen und ich kann mich nicht darüber beklagen, dass ich gewonnen habe. Ich nehme den Sieg mit und ziehe hoffentlich meine Lehren aus dem heutigen Tag. Aber Valtteri hatte wirklich sehr viel Pech. Ein Doppelsieg wäre ein großartiges Ergebnis für das Team gewesen. Ohne den Reifenschaden hätte ich ihn in den verbleibenden Runden nicht einholen können. Es scheint so, als ob Ferrari noch immer das bessere Auto hat. Sie waren für einen Großteil des Wochenendes schneller als wir. Wir konnten im Rennen nur geradeso an ihnen dranbleiben. Es liegt also definitiv noch etwas Arbeit vor uns, aber wir sind dabei und es wird sehr eng. Jetzt müssen wir unsere Ärmel hochkrempeln und weiterarbeiten.

“It was not the easiest or most enjoyable race. After the accident with Esteban on the first lap, I had to come in to change the nose and switch to Soft tires. I don’t know if my car was damaged, but overall the feeling was ok. The tires were not consistent, a bit on-and-off; I was struggling to keep them warm enough and had some difficult moments. Some laps they felt good and some others it was more tricky. After that, things went back to normal. I tried to stay out of trouble, pushing when it felt right to do so and do my own race. I was expecting something to happen sooner or later. It’s never too late; you need to be ready, because you never know what can happen until the race is finished. We are pretty confident for the future, because we have the speed, and this is the main thing. We just need to minimize all the mistakes and the issues to be up there all the time. Today obviously feels better than yesterday, it worked out pretty ok. I will happily take this second place, considering the tricky race we had.”

“I’m extremely happy. Our race was a rollercoaster. We started with an incident on the first lap when I was hit from behind by a Williams [Sirotkin]. That pushed me into Kimi [Raikkonen] and broke my front wing so I had to pit. I was at the back and then I was given a five seconds penalty. I was able to make my way through the field and when the Safety Car came out we managed to keep our position. The team did a great pit stop and I was able to serve my penalty and still come out in front of Grosjean. I was looking after my tyres because we only had SuperSofts left and warming them up was very difficult. I was struggling and every corner was a lottery, but then I saw the cars in front of me were struggling too. I passed Seb [Vettel] but then he recovered and put pressure on me. I had to give it everything in the last two laps: my pace was unbelievable and I think they were the best two laps of my life. This podium means a lot to me, I am very pleased and proud for myself, my family, my team and Mexico.”

“We are not entirely happy, because we could have won. In fact, I am very upset about losing the position at the restart, because I didn’t want that to happen, but there are also so many positive aspects to take from this race. When the safety car pulled away, I saw a gap and I went for it, but obviously it didn’t work. So, now it’s easy for everyone to say that it was too big a risk, but I was driving at 330 kph on the straight, there was no reference on the left and I didn’t really have many options. Lewis was on the right, while Valtteri was ahead, but I couldn’t really go to the right. I also wanted to go for the inside, but once I locked up, it was tough luck. After that, with the flat spot, it was a shame that I had to give the position to Sergio. Apart from that, I think it was a very good race; we had a good pace and were in control. Anyway, this is how it goes sometimes. I had a chance to win and I tried. It just didn’t work. It was a quick decision, so there was a chance it wouldn’t be right. Now I think we need to look ahead because we had a strong car today. We’ll see what the other races will bring, but we need to stay hungry and keep working.”

“It’s a very strong result for the team. I’m very happy and it was a really fun race, as always in Baku. It was crazy out there as the grip was difficult today. The first stint was very strong and I was able to overtake both Red Bulls on track. Then, the soft tyre was trickier for us and in the end we had to battle for that fifth place. It is positive for the team to go into Europe in a strong place in the Championship. I need to keep working hard with my engineers to keep building the car to my liking and to keep the points coming. Next stop is Spain and I really look forward to it.”

„Es war ein unglaubliches Rennen – ich freue mich sehr über mein Resultat. Es war auf jeden Fall auch ein ereignisreiches Rennen, denn es gab einige Unfälle auf der Strecke. Das hat das Rennen umso spannender gemacht, und gleichzeitig eine zusätzliche Herausforderung geboten. Es ist ein außerordentlich tolles Gefühl, zum ersten Mal in der Formel 1 Punkte zu sammeln. Als Team sehen wir unser Potential, und wissen, wo unsere Stärken liegen. Ich bin sehr zufrieden und freue mich, auf diesem positiven Weg weiter zu machen.“

“Today’s race was very complicated – right from the very first lap. “The first lap in the midfield is the same old story; people preferring to crash into other cars rather than lifting off. But it’s also up to us to qualify further towards the front, where it’s usually a little bit cleaner. “On that opening lap, my car was heavily damaged – I had two punctures, with one flat tyre damaging the floor. I also had a damaged front and rear wing. “I really thought that would be the end of my race, but after the team fitted a new front wing and fresh tyres, I went back out, fought all race long, and actually found the car to be quite competitive. “We were able to overtake a Sauber and a Renault thanks to the Safety Car, which enabled us to recover a couple of positions. It was one of the best races in years for us, I reckon.”

It was a crazy race. So much happened. I am pretty happy with the race, there were perhaps one or two more positions if we did everything perfectly, but no one had a perfect race today. In that battle with Fernando at the end I think I should have held him there, but he surprised me into turn three. I didn't really see him coming back on the inside and he just managed to sneak through, but that was probably the only little bit we missed today. The wind was strong, I could feel the car getting pushed around a bit so it was definitely noticeable. All in all, I am happy with P8 and it was a good race for the team. We can't assume this pace will carry on to Barcelona, we have to understand our issues and keep working but that is just what we are doing.

“What a mad afternoon! This race is usually a bit crazy, and we saw that again today. “By mid-race, I think I was last, and there was zero chance of making something work. But then the Safety Car came out: I made a good call at the end to put some hot rubber on when everyone else seemed to be struggling with tyre warm-up. Being at the back at that point wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – at the restart, I felt really confident, managed to overtake a few cars, and got myself back in the points. “We still lack straight-line speed, which meant it was a struggle to attack or defend in the race, so there’s still some work to do there. Nevertheless, I’m pleased that we got some more points this weekend.”

"That was an interesting race! From my point of view, I kept it clean but we didn't really have the pace today to challenge in the midfield. In the areas we needed to overtake we just couldn't get close enough. There was a lot of drama around me, but I managed to keep my nose clean and take home my first World Championship point in F1, which is great! It was important for me to get to the end of the race today - especially after yesterday! I think at times during the race the pace was OK, but on the Ultrasoft tyre at the end I didn't feel like I could challenge the cars in front. I would have loved to attack a bit more but let's be happy with a point on the board...I'll take this momentum into the next race!"

„Es war ein schwieriges Rennen für mich, aber ich freue mich über mein Resultat – insbesondere, wenn man bedenkt, mit welchen Umständen ich zu kämpfen hatte. Ich war zu Beginn des Rennens in einem kleinen Unfall verwickelt, wodurch mein Auto beschädigt wurde. Danach war es schwierig das Maximum aus dem Rennen herauszuholen. Ich habe alles getan, um mit der Konkurrenz aufzuholen. Am Ende war es toll, das Rennen auf Platz 11 zu beenden. Wir haben nun als Team zum zweiten Mal in dieser Saison Punkte gesammelt. Das ist sehr motivierend, und unser Potential wird immer besser erkennbar. Nun müssen wir weiterhin gute Arbeit leisten. Ich freue mich auf das nächste Rennwochenende in Barcelona.“

"I had a really good start to the race, from 17th I managed to get into the top 10 after the first lap, but after that it was really tough to hold my position! I couldn't do much to keep the cars behind on the straights and I was overtaken by quite a few. It was so difficult! After the final restart, I had an incident with Magnussen where he put me in the wall, breaking half of my floor, my mirror, and bending my steering. It was quite a frustrating race because with all of the retirements and without the collision I could have been in the points."

“Obviously, things aren’t going our way at the moment. We still have a car that is performing well, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. We’ve got a competitive car that we can score points with, and on a regular basis if we have smooth weekends. I’m sure we’ll be alright. It’s just been a tough start to the season, especially when you see the potential in the car, it’s even more frustrating. We’ll come back from this. It was just a tough weekend overall.”

Ich bin absolut untröstlich und es schmerzt sehr. Aber das gehört zum Rennsport dazu. Einige Tage sind gut, andere schlecht und manche eben sehr schlecht. Ein kleines Trümmerteil hat mein gesamtes Wochenende zerstört. Bis zu dem Reifenschaden war es ein gutes Rennen für uns. Das Auto fühlte sich richtig gut an und wir waren schnell. Ich dachte, dass ich nach dem Safety Car Re-Start alles unter Kontrolle hätte. Aber dann explodierte plötzlich mein Reifen. Ich sah das Teil nicht und bemerkte es auch nicht, bis der Reifen explodierte. Die letzten paar Rennen waren richtig eng und es ist gut, dass unser Team heute gewonnen hat. Aber ich bin natürlich trotzdem sehr enttäuscht. In zwei Wochen werde ich es jetzt erneut versuchen.

“For sure it was a chaotic race and I guess we caused most of that. I have watched a few replays and the only thing we can both say is sorry to the Team. This is the last thing we wanted. We want to be able to race and I’m thankful that the Team let us race. We tried to keep it clean and give each other room but we were racing hard and in the end it cost us. I’m not going to talk about the incident but this was the worst case scenario and everyone is pretty heartbroken. I will personally apologise to the Team and once again I’m just sorry we are all in this situation when everyone has worked so hard to give us such a good car.”

“It’s disappointing not to finish the race on a day in which we had such good pace. I had a flying start and I managed to pass Kimi [Raikkonen]. I was ahead of him all the way to turn two and when we went into the corner. I was behind Ricciardo but Kimi made a lunge and put me in the barriers. I feel it was my corner and I was on the racing line, but he locked up and hit me. I feel the mistake was on his side: we’ll see what the Stewards say but that won’t change the outcome for me. It’s a shame because Sergio showed we had the pace to do really well here today. I am still very pleased for the team’s result and I hope we can carry our performance forward to Barcelona and beyond.”

“Today was just really disappointing for the Team and we lost many points unnecessarily. I don’t think we need to speak about fault because at the end of the day we are racing for a team and representing a lot of people, so when this happens it is not good for both of us. The tow was very strong and our speed was very similar, so we were then always very close to each other. Before the accident it was hard racing but fair I think and we gave each other space, we had a little brush with the wheels but I think in racing that can happen, but what happened afterwards is not good. We will learn from this and have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t think not letting us race anymore is the way forward but of course we will talk this over as a team and learn from it. We are always very fair to each other and have spoken immediately about this. For now, I’m just sorry and want to apologise to the people we represent here and at the factory as well.”

“It’s wild and just crazy here as it’s so tight. We started well but I just lost the rear end at the end of turn four and that was my race done really. I had some rear locking going into that corner and the wind was difficult and it didn’t take much to throw me off. It’s unfortunate but that’s how it is sometimes. Let’s look forward to Spain.”

“This hurts a lot and I want to apologize to the team. We were in the middle of an amazing race, starting last and running P6. Seeing (Sergio) Perez on the podium, knowing I was fighting with him, is very painful for all of us. It was going very well. The conditions were tricky, there was a lot of wind, the car was going left and right, pushing then not pushing. I was warming up my tires and bumped into a switch that I’d moved by two positions. When I touched the brakes, the brake balance was locked rearward – it just locked the rear wheels and I spun.”

It was such a mess in the first few corners. I was between two cars heading into turn three and I was just slowly and progressively squeezed between the two cars, as I was in the middle. At a point I saw I was not going to avoid a crash so I just lifted, hoping they would squeeze me but not hit me that much, but then already there was nothing I could do. We touched, my car jumped and when I landed, I broke my front suspension and my wing. I am just really sorry for this, as it is such a long race, but I understand that we all want to gain positions at the start, which is important. It is a shame in a race in such conditions. Parking the car in turn three is not the best feeling. This was the best weekend so far for us and I am sure we could have squeezed some points out of it.