Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Ich fahre schon seit langer Zeit Rennen, aber das wird einfach niemals langweilig. Es ist immer eine Herausforderung und ich liebe es, das Limit zu finden und diese Maschine zu bändigen. Auf dieser Strecke macht das Fahren im Rennen wahnsinnig viel Spaß und es gibt einige technisch sehr anspruchsvolle Abschnitte. Es mag von außen vielleicht einfach aussehen, aber das ist es überhaupt nicht - alles ist stets am Limit. Deshalb achtete ich bei jeder Gelegenheit auf die Reifen, den Motor und sparte Benzin. Ich hatte ziemlich große Blasen an meinen Vorderreifen, die mir etwas Sorgen bereiteten. Aber wir sind durchgekommen und das hätte ich nicht ohne dieses fantastische Team geschafft. Ich bin unheimlich stolz auf jeden Einzelnen und auch darauf, Teil dieser Mannschaft sein zu dürfen. Das war bislang unser bester Start in ein Jahr und das müssen wir genießen.

Schlussendlich war es ein relativ ruhiges Rennen. Der Start war meine beste Chance, aber Lewis kam ebenfalls gut weg und damit war meine Gelegenheit dahin. Lewis war heute sehr schnell. Ich versuchte, mit ihm mitzuhalten, aber dann begannen meine Vorderreifen auseinanderzufallen - sowohl auf den Medium-Reifen als auch am Ende auf der harten Mischung. Gegen Rennende waren wir wegen der Blasenbildung besorgt, weshalb ich etwas zurückstecken musste. Es war definitiv noch etwas drin, aber wir wollten auf der sicheren Seite sein und es bis ins Ziel schaffen. Letztendlich hatte Lewis heute einen Pace-Vorteil und ging besser mit den Reifen um. Das muss ich mir ansehen und daraus lernen. Ich bin sehr stolz auf die Arbeit des Teams und ein weiterer Doppelsieg ist ein großartiges Ergebnis für uns.

“Overall, this weekend was pretty positive. I’m pleased I was able to fight for second place right at the end, even if I never had a real chance to attack Valtteri. I am satisfied because we managed to maximise the potential of the car. It was about time, because after a few so-so weekends, everything went smoothly right from the start of free practice and then in qualifying and the race, where our strategy was perfect both in terms of the timing of the pit stop and our tyre management in the second part of the race. I believe hard work always pays off and I feel we proved that this weekend. Now we go straight to Austria where I hope we can maintain this same good form.”

“The race was a bit lonely at times but it wasn’t boring as I had Charles in sight which was good motivation to keep trying to match his lap times. You have to keep pushing yourself even if there aren’t cars that you are directly fighting. I always want to see how fast we can go and push as much as possible. In the second stint, we were looking quite good but with six or seven laps to go I ran out of rear grip and I couldn’t really rely on the rear tyres anymore. I think it took a bit too much out of my tyres trying to keep up with Charles early in the race but I’m pleased to be in front of one Ferrari and finish fourth on a track that doesn’t really suit us. The target is always to win but it was not possible here today and I got the most out of the package. We have made a small step this weekend but we still need to work on all elements to fight for victories.”

“I had a pretty lonely race, apart from a bit of confusion at the start, given that the timing of the lights going out caught us a bit by surprise. It was fun fighting with the McLarens, first Norris then Carlos. The first stint went pretty well and that meant I could close the gap to Charles and Max. Then in the second one, I had a few more balance problems and I didn’t feel totally comfortable with the car. I think today’s fifth place was the most we could have done, given that Charles, Max and me were all running at pretty much the same pace. At least getting the fastest race lap means I get an extra point. We still need to understand why Friday was so complicated with some of the parts we brought here not working as we had hoped. Our car is not yet strong enough and it’s down to us to improve. We still don’t have the pace to beat Mercedes, but I know that everyone at Maranello is working with so much positive pressure – and passion.”

“Very happy after a strong and well-executed race. I made another good start and once I was in P6 I controlled the race, controlled the pace, and drove to the target lap times the team was giving me to manage the tyres. It was a simple race from that point of view and one of those days where everything comes together and produces the maximum result available, so well done to everyone. “We were definitely the fourth fastest car this weekend – in qualifying and the race – so happy with that. Congratulations to the team for the hard work all weekend and for another double points finish. We just need to keep pushing hard to improve at every race.”

“I was a bit disappointed to miss out on Q3 yesterday, but we knew it would be much better to start on different tyres than the softs, and so it was. I didn’t make the best start but luckily I didn’t lose too much on the straight and I could fight back in the next few corners. We were in a strong position after the start, on the hard tyres, but I had to hold back Hülkenberg the whole race. It was a great battle with the Renaults for most of the afternoon and in the end I was able to catch up with the cars in front. The last few laps were very intense and it was good fun. It’s really good that we could fight against other cars in the midfield and be up there. We had the speed and we got a good result in the end.”

“We made a good recovery today and it’s pleasing to be in the top ten again. Maybe it could have been a different race had we qualified slightly higher, but thirteenth to ninth is a strong effort. I was pushing all race, but I was stuck in traffic and this place is difficult for overtaking. I had pace in hand today, which shows on race day we’re strong. The last few laps were really fun; it was tight and exciting and I was happy to make up some places there. We’ve demonstrated that our race pace is there, but we have something to find on one-lap pace.”

“I had a good start, same as the guys ahead of me. Being on the inside, I got boxed in and Carlos managed to go around the outside, which was something I couldn’t have done from my starting position on the inside. The rest of the race was good, I had good pace and was just managing the gap to Carlos to protect my tyres for later in the race. “A hydraulic issue, around 20 laps from the finish, cost me a lot of time and made the car really hard to drive. The steering wheel went really heavy and I lost the power steering. It was really tough, I did my best not to lose places but it was too much of an issue to hang on as I had lost so much pace. Still, one point, considering everything, is a good result as it could have been much worse. Great job by the team all weekend and everyone back at the factory to give us both such a quick car.”

“It was a long, difficult day and I’m disappointed, especially being here in France. From qualifying, I have struggled for grip and it was the same in the race. At the moment I don’t have the answer but I’m sure we will analyse everything to understand exactly why we lacked pace. I tried to do everything I could inside the cockpit but I could not push the car as I was sliding a lot. I have never really felt the car like this and with Austria next, we will have to quickly work hard with the guys to come back and put everything together for the next race. Honda are pushing hard and for sure they are developing so this is a positive.”

“It’s clearly disappointing to drop outside the points with a post-race penalty, especially at the team’s home race. The last lap was a lot of fun, we had a fight and I enjoyed it. I’d rather give it a go than not try at all, and I’m sure the French fans and the people at home liked watching. It’s a shame to be penalised for it, but we’ll aim to move on from that as quickly as possible. In terms of the race, I feel like I missed out a little bit at the start, especially after a really good launch off the line. I braked too early for turn one and that was too conservative looking back. That made the rest of the race hard work, but we kept it clean and smooth from there. There are still a lot of positives to take and we’ll be looking for an immediate response in Austria.”

“I don't understand why I was penalised. I have to look at it properly, but I did what I'm supposed to do, which was to go around the bollards. The rule is that you have to come back on the track as soon as you go through the bollards, which is what I did. I think what they did is wrong, because I stuck to the rules. Whether or not I gained an advantage, for me it was impossible to judge - it was lap one and there were so many cars around. It's supposed to be slower than the racing line so that you don't gain an advantage, but if it isn’t it’s not my fault. The penalty really hurt my race. We had the possibility to score some points today but this ruined it. We were a lot closer in terms of race pace, so that was promising. At the moment we are still struggling in qualifying and that’s where we must focus our attention to see what we can do better next week. Hopefully we can get back into the points in Austria.”

“It was a good race today. The first stint was really strong and we went really long before fitting a fresh set of mediums at the end so that I could push and attack in the final few laps. Unfortunately, I think we stopped a little bit too late because I could feel the tyres dropping off towards the end of my first stint, which cost us some time. There was also some life left in the mediums when I finished the race. Pitting a few laps earlier could have changed our final result, but it’s easy to say that after the race. It was a good team effort today and we showed good pace to move up the order. We will come back in Austria and give it another shot.”

“I think the race wasn’t too bad today. In the end, we did the best job possible and we had some good battles on track, I made a nice move on the outside of Grosjean and had an enjoyable battle with Alex towards the end of the race – it was quite fun! I’m not sure where we would have finished if we had of started further up the grid without the penalty, but I think it would have been a bit of a challenge to finish inside the points today. Now we need to analyse everything in order to come back stronger in Austria.”

“Unfortunately, our race was compromised from lap one as I went wide into Turn 2 and got boxed out. I didn’t realise how much grip there was on the outside and I lost a few positions. We were quicker than the cars in front but struggled to get past them as everyone was in the DRS train, so I spent most of the race behind another car. We lacked a bit of pace today, so we need to understand why and where we can improve. It was good fun battling with Dany, however, fighting for positions outside of the points is not where either of us wants to be.”

“It was disappointing to finish out of the points, but we were up against it when starting on the soft tyres. It was the price to pay for a good performance on Saturday, but it effectively compromised my race before the start. We pitted early as the softs didn’t last, but in the end we had to make another stop in order to finish the race. I can still take some positives from a strong qualifying, and of course it was important for the team to get back into the points. I would have loved to celebrate Alfa Romeo’s birthday with a better result, but we showed to be competitive and hopefully we can carry this form to the next races.”

“There’s not much to tell. I think after Friday we were thinking that qualifying might be difficult, but the race would be strong. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. We were fighting at the back the whole race. We were a bit helpless. Obviously our pace is the biggest challenge at the moment. We just lack pace sometimes, and today was one of those days.”

The tyres lasted better than expected so it was less painful as they behaved very well. My first lap was good, I made some correct decisions without risking too much. The rest of the race was alright, I struggled with the rear tyres in certain moments of the race, but I kept them under control, so it was ok. The battle with George was good experience for when the car gets quicker, which will hopefully pay off in the future.

With my first attempt to overtake Robert around the outside, I ran wide and hit the polystyrene board. We thought that wasn’t too much of an issue but then we found that damage to the front wing worsened. For safety reasons we decided on the change. The pace seems strong, but it was an expected day. We need to be patient, learn as much as we can and then hopefully in a number of races time start the battle. Overall, not satisfied, not disappointed just normal.

“I got the maximum from the car, but it was just not good enough. Even though the balance felt okay, we were just very slow. We need to go back and analyze everything, try and understand it. We’re just really struggling. It’s hard to retire in front of your home crowd, but we’ve saved some parts. We were far from the points anyway. I think it was the right decision.”