Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Ich bin so aufgeregt. Als ich hierherkam, wusste ich, dass Singapur für uns schwer werden würde. Aber ich bin immer optimistisch und denke, dass wir uns Chancen erarbeiten können, wenn wir gewissenhaft unsere Arbeit erledigen. Der Freitag war bereits ein guter Tag für uns. Am Samstag ging es nicht gut los, aber dann ist mir plötzlich diese ganz besondere Runde gelungen. Ich wusste, dass die Pole Position für uns eine großartige Chance darstellte, die wir ausnutzen mussten. Ich hatte einen klasse Start und konnte das Rennen danach kontrollieren. Wenn ich in Verkehr kam, achtete ich darauf, keine unnötigen Risiken einzugehen. Wenn man näher an ein anderes Auto herankommt, verliert man Grip und das Auto fängt an, herumzurutschen. Dadurch erhöht sich die Fehlerwahrscheinlichkeit. Wenn man Glück hat, trifft man an der richtigen Stelle auf andere Autos, sodass man keine Zeit verliert. Aber heute bin ich immer an unglücklichen Stellen auf sie aufgelaufen. Als Max direkt hinter mir war, musste ich mich verteidigen. Dabei dachte ich mir nur: „Du kommst heute nicht vorbei!“ Das Rennen war körperlich sehr anstrengend und ich bin froh, dass es jetzt vorbei ist. Es hat sich wie eine lange Nacht angefühlt, aber ich bin für dieses Ergebnis wahnsinnig dankbar.

“It was a shame to lose a position to Sebastian so early on but there was not a lot I could do as we were both flat out. I should have been able to hold the line but I just couldn’t match his speed. My only real chance to win was at the start, unfortunately it was a bit all over the place and I knew my chance had gone. Luckily the team had me on a great strategy and therefore managed to get me back into second place with a brilliant pit stop. When I got close to Lewis due to back markers I never really thought the pass would be possible. It’s hard to overtake here so I didn’t want to take the risk. It was also slightly unfair how he had been held up by drivers not getting out of the way. I had a few driveability issues again behind the Safety Car and pulling away from the pit stop was dreadful, but in the end we managed it well and got the result we wanted. After the way the car has felt at certain points this weekend, qualifying on the front row and taking second place today is an amazing result.”

”It’s never easy to come and win even if, obviously, that was our target. Yesterday the qualifying didn’t go the way we wanted and we couldn’t extract the best out of ourselves. Today, starting from third position, we had to try something different, but it didn’t work out and we finished where we started. We were running second after a good start which allowed me to get past Max, I was happy and confident when I got the call to box, I knew I needed a mega out lap to try and challenge for the lead but it didn’t work. I lost time behind another car and the brakes got a little too hot, it was close but we got the worse of it. I fully support the team’s decision because, as I am sitting in the car, I can’t be aware of everything that goes on, so I rely on them. Our target was not to finish third, but today we just did not have enough speed.”

Im Rennen ist nicht viel passiert. Ich hatte darauf gehofft, dass es mehr Variablen geben würde, die das Feld etwas durcheinanderbringen könnten. Es gab nur eine Safety-Car-Phase zu Beginn des Rennens, aber das war zu früh, um etwaige Boxenstopps auszulösen. Es ist sehr schwer, anderen Autos zu folgen und auch das Überholen ist auf dieser Strecke schwierig. Sobald das Safety Car wieder hereingegangen war, folgte ein relativ ereignisloses Rennen. Der erste Stint auf den HyperSoft-Reifen war sehr unkompliziert. Wir wussten, dass der zweite Stint auf den Soft-Reifen schwieriger werden würde, da er so lang war und die Reifen gegen Ende ziemlich abgefahren sein würden. Ich kann mit dem vierten Platz nicht zufrieden sein. Aber das Qualifying-Ergebnis von gestern hat mir heute ein besseres Resultat erschwert. Wir haben trotzdem ein gutes Mannschaftsergebnis eingefahren. Das ist großartig, da jeder im Team sehr hart gearbeitet hat, um das Auto und die Abstimmung für Singapur zu verbessern.

”Not much happened today in the race; the car was behaving well and we had a fair speed, but most of the time we were stuck behind somebody and taking care of the tires. On this track it’s impossible to overtake, unless the guy in front makes a massive mistake. I could see Bottas struggling with his front right tire and locking it sometimes, I could get closer to him but not enough to pass. Through the middle part of the track it was even difficult to follow him because we were losing downforce. In the first stint we stayed out longer hoping for a Safety Car, but it did not happen. The qualifying here is the key and obviously, when you start behind, your race ends up being a bit boring, getting stuck behind other cars. There was no way we could use our speed. Obviously we wanted more, we did what we could, but this is what we have got today.”

“In the end, the race was a bit as we expected but we hoped for some sort of ultimate strategy. We tried something different by going long on the Hypersoft and we had good pace but a street circuit is only really great if you are on pole, otherwise it’s not only hard to overtake but even to follow. Qualifying is so important here and the race was really lost yesterday. I could catch Kimi, I would stay close to him for a couple of laps and then I would have to back-off. I had the pace to get back on his gearbox but I was never quite close enough to make a move. I really had to hope for a mistake or that Kimi and Valtteri would start tangling and I could capitalise. I got close at Turn 13 on the last lap, but it wasn’t close enough. Street circuits are my favourite tracks to drive but they can also be frustrating. In Monaco I listened to Lewis in seventh place complaining about following closely and now I understand what he was complaining about. I think everyone was in the same boat. I would have loved to fight for something more today but I couldn’t. Last night we spent quite a few hours here trying to figure it all out and I hope in Russia everything will fall into place. We’ll keep fighting, try to get better and maybe we can get a win at a circuit where we don’t expect it. Now I’ll jump into the ice bath and cool down.”

“I’m really happy with seventh position. Normally something happens in front of us, but today all six cars ahead finished the race, so P7, behind the top six cars, is a small win for us. “We executed the race to perfection with a good strategy, we maximised the tyre advantage starting on the purple [Ultrasoft] tyre and then switching to the yellows [Softs], and scored good points for the team, in the end. “At some point in the race we were also the fastest car on track, and on such a demanding circuit this makes me even happier. “It was no boring race for me, as we still needed to open some gaps in case of a Safety Car, and we didn’t know when people behind us would stop. So, even though we were alone, it was about controlling the gaps. “We knew coming here that the characteristics of this track would suit our package. I think it’s going to be up and down for the remainder of the season, as at some races we’re expecting to be competitive and at some others not so much. “The target will be scoring points on Sundays and helping the team in the Constructors’ Championship.”

“I’m very satisfied with the result today. I wasn’t happy yesterday, but I woke up knowing we had a really good chance in the race. We had an advantage with tyre strategy starting in twelfth and we made a good start to boost our possibility of getting into the top ten. Eighth isn’t bad for today, but I would have preferred to finish higher up the order. Five points for the team are important for the championship and we keep distance to our rivals. In general, I’m happy with today as we executed a good race.”

„Was für ein Rennen – es war nahezu perfekt. Wir hatten tolle Rundenzeiten, und die Balance des Autos fühlte sich durchgehend gut an. Wir haben dieses Wochenende die notwendigen Schritte gemacht, um unsere Performance laufend zu verbessern. Mit unserer Strategie konnten wir uns bis ins vordere Mittelfeld kämpfen, und wieder Punkte holen. Nach einigen schwierigen Rennwochenenden fühlt es sich toll an, und zeigt unser Potential. Ich freue mich auf den nächsten Grand Prix.“

“I’m not quite happy with the result, as I know it could have been better. I lost two positions at the start and from there we were on the back foot, which was costly. We pitted early, going for an aggressive undercut and that initially played out well, but we were caught up in traffic after that. I benefitted from the collision in front of me to get into the points, but it could have been more today, so it’s mixed feelings for me in the end.”

„Es war ein recht gutes Rennen. Die Rundenzeiten waren in Ordnung, und wir haben keine Fehler gemacht. Trotzdem ist es etwas frustrierend, das Rennen auf Platz 11 zu beenden, und so knapp an den Punkten zu sein. Wir haben eine starke Leistung gezeigt, konnten aber nicht mehr um den zehnten Platz kämpfen da wir nach dem Boxenstopp hinter den führenden Autos stecken blieben. Nichtsdestotrotz haben wir als Team gute Arbeit geleistet und werden in Sochi erneut um gute Resultate kämpfen.“

“I think it was a decent race today considering not a lot of action happened during the race and there were no Safety Cars after the start. There was just that one incident on the first lap, but we couldn’t really benefit from that. “We were quick and actually had good pace when it mattered in that first stint, especially when the pit window opened. We decided to go long on the first stint, and that’s how we recovered a few places. “The tyres didn’t feel so great by the time we pitted, but we more or less had the pace to maintain that same rhythm. The others were getting blue flags so they were losing a lot of time, and that’s what mattered. “It’s always been known that we’re better on a Sunday than a Saturday, but on street circuits like Singapore it’s all about qualifying. It’s a shame not to score any points.”

"It was a bit of a strange race today. I had a good start, recovered three positions and was P12 after the first lap. We gambled with the tyres and started with the Hypersoft, but in the end it was much more difficult than we thought and I really struggled to make them last at the end of the stint. After the first pit stop, I was in the mess with Sirotkin and Grosjean, and with all of the blue flags I lost quite a bit of time. I tried to do the maximum inside of the car, but I didn't have the pace to fight for points all weekend."

I will have to watch the race, as I don't really know what happened around me, but I think there was quite a bit of chaos, so probably I benefited from that. I am really happy with the end result as 14th was a great result for the pace we had yesterday, and throughout the weekend. It wasn't easy - I would say more mentally than physically. I felt pretty good in the car as physically I had prepared. Mentally I am on the edge with no room for error. It wasn't easy as every millimetre counts round here and one millimetre too much is contact with the wall. I was trying to get everything out of the car on every lap, as for sure 61 laps round a track like this are very challenging. I pulled it off, so I am happy.

“I think it was a frustrating race for everyone who qualified between seventh and 10th on the hypersofts. It was such a poor tire in the race. We did 10 laps and they completely went, while the ultrasofts did, I don’t know how many laps, 40? So, it’s almost better not to qualify in the top-10. Maybe we need to think about that a little bit because I felt like I pushed really hard in qualifying and in the race every single lap. I did the best I could but, in the end, I had no chance of being in the top-10. I’m sorry if I blocked anyone, it was not my intention. I believe I did my best. I was fighting with Sergey (Sirotkin), who was doing a little bit of go-kart racing out there. I couldn’t really slow down. Pierre (Gasly) was on my gearbox and Sergey was on my front wing. I passed him, then as soon as I passed him, I let Lewis (Hamilton) by.”

“I feel very sad about the lost opportunity today. On lap one I was coming out of turn three, picking up the power and all of a sudden I felt a hit. I didn’t know who it was and then the team told me it was Esteban. I feel so bad for the team because we really need to be scoring points at every race and it should have been a great day for us. After that the race became quite tricky and I soon realised it was going to be difficult to score points. I think we underestimated how difficult it would be to overtake the Williams and Sirotkin was defending very hard and moving around under braking. When I finally got alongside him, I tried to close the door a bit too early and we made contact. It’s a weekend to forget and I am really sorry for what happened and the points we have lost today.”

"We rolled the dice today and decided to pit early, I was quicker than the guys in front being on the Hypersoft. We changed to the Ultrasoft and a lot of people covered us which put us back in traffic, so it didn't really work out. We decided to do another pit stop and I got stuck behind the Williams and lost a place to Magnussen, there was a couple of good scraps out there but we didn't have the pace for points today. It's disappointing as we had high hopes for Singapore. It was a tough race, we got to the end but there's no celebrations today. We chose to start on the Hypersoft because we knew we potentially had better tyre life than others around us, and we hoped we could make ground on the first lap. It was a bit tricky because Ocon went into the wall, but we were very competitive in the first stint on the Hypersoft. We tried to do something different to move up the field, but it didn't work out."

“It was a long day at the office. Obviously, it was a tough day for the team. I guess a slight highlight was getting the track record. It’s not really worth anything but perhaps a smile. Let’s move on, reset, and get ready to attack again in Russia.”

It was a fight. I fought all my way through, I was fighting and squeezing every single moment. We were in a good position at the beginning of the race, and up to the point of contact with the Force India car. This caused a lot of damage to my car and after that it was more about survival. It’s a difficult track to overtake, so I still fought as hard as I could to protect the car and keep my position, but lap after lap, it was becoming more difficult and the car was falling apart. I gave everything in terms of myself and with the car to bring the best performance home.

“It's a huge disappointment to be out of the race early when we had such strong pace. The car felt great this weekend and we knew a strong result was possible, but instead we're leaving Singapore with zero points. I am not going to analyse what happened at the start. All I will say is that I got off the line well and I saw an opportunity to go past Sergio. I had good grip on the outside, but then I felt a hit and I was in the wall. The only positive from tonight is that we have a strong car and we can be back scoring well in Russia. There are still six races remaining to score as many points as we can, so we will turn the page and keep working hard for the next race.”