Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Before the penultimate race for the 2016 Formula One season we had the Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying session which saw the two Mercedes lock-out the front row followed by Raikkonen who claims “it wasn’t the best lap” but did the job in securing him third position for the race start.
Here’s the reaction from the drivers (and teams) following the qualifying session earlier today starting with the Mercedes…..
Mercedes – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Lewis Hamilton
Position – 1st
“It’s been feeling great all weekend. Every session today, I was up front and able to maintain that position. I kept finding a little bit more (time) each time I went out so I’m really, really happy with the result.”
“I don’t know how obvious it is watching at home but, with this being one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, it’s somewhere that even the smallest margin can actually make a huge difference and it’s usually really close out there and really tricky to get everything right.”
“When you have such a short lap, getting your tyres ready for the first flying lap is often difficult, you go into the first three corners without them being fully prepared, fully up to the temperature and it’s quite bumpy in places too so overall a tough circuit.”
“I’ve felt strong in every aspect and in all conditions throughout the weekend so I’m going to prepare in the best way I can for tomorrow and see how it goes from there – I’m ready.”
Nico Rosberg
Position – 2nd
“That was a pretty intense qualifying session out there today. I was able to improve my times from lap to lap which felt good and it was all going really well. I found a good balance, a good rhythm, a good everything really.”
“I improved again on my last run but at the end, Lewis was just that little bit quicker – that’s the way things are but there’s still a lot to play for tomorrow.”
“To win the race is definitely a possibility from this position and the the start is always a possibility and with the strategy it could be quite interesting tomorrow – I had a good long run this morning so I’m looking forward to a great race in front of this fantastic crowd.”
Toto Wolff – Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“What a fantastic qualifying session with everything coming down to the final lap between the two boys!”
“Lewis did a great lap and was the quickest in every part of qualifying, Nico was actually a few hundredths up on his final lap until Turn 12 where he couldn’t get on the throttle early enough and lost the advantage up the hill.”
“It was a really tight session with both drivers on the limit and slugging it out on track – just like it should be.”
“Looking ahead to the race, the weather forecast looks uncertain and it will be down to our drivers to make the most of their opportunities – our job is to make sure that we don’t let them down.”
“Everything can change easily in different circumstances during the race.”
Ferrari – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Kimi Raikkonen
Position – 3rd
“Today everything felt a bit more normal than yesterday and I was happier in the car. Overall, it was easier for everybody and the cooler conditions definitely helped. Yesterday the track was very hot.”
“To be honest, the last lap was not so good – the front wing was sliding in the first two corners and I struggled a bit in the middle sector to put the lap together. I knew that it was better than the previous one but I thought it wouldn’t be enough because it was not an ideal one.”
“It’s good to be third, I’m positively surprised and we can be happy with this result. Mercedes was too far today but there is potential in the car – we are getting there and it’s all going to where it should be.”
“Tomorrow, we can only do our best, with the weather conditions you never know here, things can change quickly.”
Sebastian Vettel
Position – 5th
“Today, my last run in Q3 wasn’t ideal. I think third position would have been possible but I was probably a little bit conservative around the last corner.”
“All in all, it was a good session – the car was behaving well but maybe in the end we could have pulled out a bit more with the car.”
“Mercedes are looking very fast so obviously we will try and stay with them but our main rival will be Red Bull which had similar pace to us today.”
“In the race we’re usually a little bit faster so hopefully we can get the job done tomorrow, if it rains it will be the first time for everyone this weekend – it is what it is, I think we have enough rain tyres….”
RedBull Racing – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Max Verstappen
Position – 4th
“I was a little bit disappointed with my last lap today. I was expecting someone to jump ahead of me so Kimi being in front wasn’t a big surprise. It was an odd session – Q1 and Q2 felt good but then I wasn’t happy with the grip of the new set of tyres I got.”
“We need to look into this as the rear felt slick in sector 2 – we will analyse and hopefully figure out why.”
“We have ended up very close to third position which realistically is the best we can do in dry conditions so the results today are still pretty good!”
“I will go out there tomorrow to perform the best I can and deliver the highest finish position possible for the team – I haven’t paid too much attention to the stories of Mercedes talking with Red Bull, Nikki was in our hospitality but he jut likes our food and drinks – they are very good!
“He’s Austrian, maybe he just wanted an Austrian drink….”
Daniel Ricciardo
Position – 6th
“I feel so-so about 6th place today. I felt like we made progress from Q1 and Q2 but then in Q3 I was very disappointed with my lap.”
“Probably we didn’t get the balance right – it’s a tough track and it’s quite a short lap so if you make a mistake in one corner, it’s then very hard to make up on that time.”
“The forecast has said all week that Sunday had the highest chance of rain, hopefully that’s true – just to spice things up a little bit and if so – then we’ll try and make it exciting for everyone else and give the fans an opportunity to see a good race.
“If it rains, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun!”
Christian Horner – Team Principal RedBull Racing
“A very tight qualifying to end up fourth and sixth – looking at the grid positions for tomorrow’s race, there’s only a tenth and a half between third and sixth place today.”
“Max unfortunately lost a little bit of time in the middle sector when he was on his last lap but hopefully with the chances of mixed weather conditions tomorrow and from these grid positions, we can make good progress in the race.”
Force India – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Nico Hulkenberg
Position – 8th
“I’m happy with eighth place and I think it was pretty much the limit today. It was close with Checo (Perez) just behind me and it means that we’re starting the race in a strong position.”
“My laps were pretty clean and today although, I didn’t get a great exit of the final corner at the end of Q3. It’s been a difficult corner for us all weekend.”
“I think we have a good car for tomorrow – we just need to get the job done and score solid points.”
“At the moment, the conditions look like they will be similar to today – overcast with some light drizzle but if we got some heavier rain, it would certainly spice things up because it can be quite difficult to overtake here even when it’s dry…..”
Sergio Perez
Position – 9th
“We have made a big step forward from practice and into qualifying – it was enough to get us through to Q3.”
“The session was a real fight, especially in Q1 and the margins between progression and elimination were tiny. This is a very short track and you really need to hook together the perfect lap because any mistake can make a big difference.”
“It was tight with Nico, we were within a few tenths of each other all afternoon but in the end, I just feel short. I made a small mistake on the final corner and it cost me some time.”
“Overall, I think we can be happy with the job we did today – we have kept some quick cars behind us and I believe we can be strong in the race – we just need to see what the weather will bring tomorrow.”
Robert Fernley – Deputy Team Principal, Force India
“Getting both cars into the top ten was the target today so we’re very pleased with the outcome! The team have worked hard on Friday night to make the necessary changes and to extract the maximum performance from the car.”
“The progress we made overnight and this morning helped us squeeze through to Q3 and it’s setting everything up nicely for a strong race tomorrow.”
“Our race pace looks solid and we’re pretty relaxed about the changeable weather – come rain or shine, we have a car that is capable of converting our qualifying effort into those important points.”
Sauber – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Marcus Ericsson
Position- 21st
“First of all, I am very thankful that my car crew managed a big change between FP3 and qualifying. They did an extremely good job in between the two sessions, having a very limited amount of time to work.”
“Qualifying itself was rather difficult – yesterday we had issues during the stints so I couldn’t complete as many laps as we wanted.”
“We were on the back foot going into qualifying and with everything that happened in mind, we could not have expected much more with the result.”
Felipe Nasr
Position – 22nd
“I am very disappointed with this result. I was on a good lap until Turn 11 and then I came to Turn 12 and came across traffic which cost me some time on the way up to the finish line.”
“I also had a misfire at the end of the lap. My chances for a good lap time were then over – I am disappointed that I could not get a clean lap.”
“I will focus on tomorrow – anything can happen here because of the weather conditions so I will stay positive for my home race.”
McLaren – Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Fernando Alonso
Position – 10th
“I really enjoyed my driving today and I felt very confident in the car. These cooler conditions seem to suit our package a little better than yesterday’s higher temperatures and we extracted the maximum from the car.”
“We were a little bit worried after FP3 as we weren’t completely on the pace and I was even worried when I saw Jenson go out in Q1 – I just thought “This isn’t going to be our Saturday!“
“Happily, my car behaved on each of the five option tyre sets I used in qualifying. The car just kept delivering, I kept finding an extra tenth each time I went out, just finding a little extra at the limit.”
“Tomorrow we’re expecting it to be cooler with the possibility of some rain – it’s good to be starting in the top 10.”
Jenson Button
Position – 17th
“The car was really well balanced yesterday and I was 10th quickest in FP2, today – it was a completely different car!”
“There’s definitely something not right – there’s no reason why the car should feel like it does but it’s been like that since this morning – we’re off the pace and it’s so frustrating.”
“When the conditions are cooler, you tend to pick up a little more rear grip and stability and in high-speed, the car is so on the nose – then you destroy the rear tyres for the low-speed corners and you don’t have the grip because the tyres are damaged.”
“Still, it’s done now and tomorrow is another day…..”
Eric Boullier – McLaren-Honda Racing Director
“It’s been a somewhat tricky weekend so far but we have pushed hard to fix our issues.”
“Yesterday, we weren’t able to get either car through to the end of FP2, this morning we had a gearbox sensor issue on Fernando’s car which delayed him at the start of FP3. Then we had to change Jenson’s ISS and ECU after an issue at the very end of this morning’s practice session.”
“Our engineers and mechanics have done a very solid job of rectifying all of the issues and swiftly addressing them so let’s hope that our problems are now firmly behind us for the remainder of the weekend.”
“With Jenson, I am mystified by the shortfall in pace, we will be having a close look at everything tonight and making sure he’s got a better chance in the race tomorrow.”
“The cooler conditions really played well for Fernando – he really revelled in the car’s handling this afternoon pushing it as high as 7th in Q2 and in Q3 – 10th is a very good effort.”
“Mixed conditions are on the radar for tomorrow, we feel we’re set for a stronger race performance.”
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
xxx