Saturday in Germany - Action F1 teams
A round-up of qualifying action from the Formula 1 Grosser Preis von Deutschland 2016 at Hockenheim...
Williams
After Massa's surprise early exit in qualifying in Hungary last weekend, it was business as usual for Williams as the team got both drivers into Q3. Starting eighth and tenth, they will be hoping for a good haul of points tomorrow to pull clear of Force India in the constructors' championship.Valtteri Bottas, 8th, 1:15.530
"It was a very consistent qualifying session from us as a team. It was a very close session, as expected, but the balance of the car felt good and we managed to get the tyres to work better. We are missing a bit of grip compared to the cars in front so I think we more or less got the maximum from the car today. I had some traffic in the last sector on my Q3 run which cost me a few hundredths, so I could have been seventh, but apart from that I’m pretty pleased with my qualifying today."
Felipe Massa, 10th, 1:15.615
"I’d say it was a very competitive qualifying today, especially with Force India. We are constantly fighting for a tenth. I was very happy with my lap; but I just went into the turn too much at corner 12 and I lost time on my lap because of that. That’s the only thing that happened or else I’d have easily been one tenth quicker. So that’s a shame, but I will try even harder for the team tomorrow."
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering
"It was a very close session. From Mercedes and Red Bull backwards the laptimes are really tight and even Ferrari didn’t have much of a margin on us. We worked hard this morning to ensure that we could get a good qualifying balance, which I think we achieved. Both drivers made little mistakes on their final lap, which would have secured them seventh and eighth, but as a team we haven’t done a bad job. We’re never going to be content with eighth and 10th because that’s not where we ultimately want to be, but for this weekend that’s what we will accept. We made great strides on our qualifying pace yesterday and understanding where that pace had to come from, which will transfer into good race pace. I’m convinced that we’ve got a good race car and we’re aiming to outscore our closest rivals."
Renault
Palmer put in a great lap to make it through to Q2 for the first
time since Australia. In doing so, he relegated his team mate to 17th,
with just under one tenth of a second between them. Q2 is clear progress
for Renault, and will offer much confidence heading into the race.
Kevin Magnussen, 17th, 1:16.716
“My lap wasn’t the best and I lost out by the smallest amount from getting into Q2. Both cars were very evenly matched and it was Jo that got the upper hand today. We didn’t seem to be able to pick up the pace between FP3 and qualifying as much as our rivals however our long run pace does look more favourable and that’s what we need for a stronger result tomorrow.”
Jolyon Palmer, 16th, 1:16.665
“It’s good to be back in Q2 ! The car is improving overall, there is clear progress. We were close to Q2 in Silverstone, we should have been there for Hungary and now here we are in Hockenheim. I’m looking forward to the race ; we had better pace in Budapest but started lower in P17 than here. I was driving pretty well in Hungary bar one corner, so if I can drive well around the Hockenheimring for every corner then I should have a good chance to score points.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
"It was a step in the right direction. We always want more but it was good for Jo to get through to Q2 especially with the lap times so very close here. If we can unlock just a little more pace from the car we’ll continue to work our way up the order so it’s been a positive day. We seem to have better long run tyre performance even than in Hungary on the same compounds of Pirelli’s tyres so this bodes well for us. It looks like the weather will continue to be dry so there’s good scope and potential for both cars climb through the field."
Carlos Sainz, 13th, 1:15.989
“A very difficult qualifying session. We are struggling here in Hockenheim – we always knew that a power circuit like this one was going to be a challenge for us, as we are not quick enough on the straights. Having said that, I think I put in a very good lap. I feel good in the car and the package is working, but this is the most we could extract from the car today. Tomorrow we will try and fight for more points – of course it won’t be easy but we will surely give it our all and try and finish as high up as possible; it would be good to go on holiday with a few more points in the bag!”
Daniil Kvyat, 19th, 1:16.876
“I’m disappointed, I didn’t drive well in today’s qualifying session and my last lap wasn’t good enough to get through to Q2 – I lost my references, made some mistakes and just couldn’t put a good lap together. We looked promising yesterday, but today when it really mattered we were just not there. I’m upset and I’m not at my usual level, that’s for sure – we all go through some periods where we don’t feel good in the car and that’s where I am now. I just need to have a bit of a better understanding of what’s going on around me and try and come to some conclusions in order to feel confident in the car again. It’s a tough task to get back to my level, but I’m young and I’m sure we will find some answers soon. The good thing is that I feel that the solution isn’t that far away… We had a good Friday yesterday for the first time in a while, so we need to look into that. Tomorrow is the race and we will try to fight our way back. I haven’t got much to lose so I will just go for it!”
Phil Charles, Chief Race Engineer
“A very difficult Saturday for us. It was clearly a very tight pack in the mid field today. Unfortunately for Daniil he had two scrappy runs in Q1, the second of which had a slow first sector with a small mistake in T1. This proved very costly as it was enough to mean he didn’t make Q2. Carlos’s story was a bit happier in Q1, where he got through into Q2 in 12th place, but unfortunately he needed two sets of tyres to do this when we had hoped to make it through on one. Then, in Q2, he did two pretty clean laps but our sector 2 times were simply not strong enough and he finished P13. Of the midfield pack the Force Indias were strong today and the Haas did a particularly good job, with Gutierrez to be in front of us. We were very close with the two McLarens and Carlos was placed between them. Unfortunately he did baulk Massa in T2 on his first run in Q2, which now means a 3 grid position penalty. We will make sure that our apologies are given.”
Carlos Sainz (ESP) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 at Formula One World
Championship, Rd12, German Grand Prix, Qualifying, Hockenheim, Germany,
Saturday
30 July 2016. © Sutton Images
Nico Hülkenberg, 7th, 1:15.510
“I’m feeling pretty happy to qualify in seventh for my home race – it’s best of the rest behind the top three teams and a good effort by the whole team. Our objective is always to maximise our potential and it feels like we achieved that today. Most of my laps in the session came together nicely and my final effort in Q3 was spot on. We can expect a tough fight for good points tomorrow, but we are in a good starting position and we’ve looked strong here in all the sessions. The long run pace is competitive, too, so we’ve got every chance of getting a great result this weekend. There is talk of some rain tomorrow and to be honest I would not mind a shower during the race, but let’s wait and see what happens.”
Sergio Perez, 9th, 1:15.537
“It was a fun and very intense fight with Nico and the two Williams cars throughout qualifying, and in the end it was really close between the four of us. It was crucial to get through Q1 on one set of tyres because some other teams had to use two sets and this gave us a small advantage in Q2, which helped us make the top ten. On my last lap of Q3 I struggled a bit through some of the right-hand corners; I think I may have picked something up on my front wing – maybe some debris – and that cost me some time, but it’s something I will analyse with the team. In the end, it was so close and just a few hundredths of a second made the difference. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We are starting on the supersofts on which we qualified and we will need to work well as a team to make the strategy work and score some important points.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal
“Today’s qualifying performance is a good effort from both sides of the garage and sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. The car has shown good speed since the start of practice and it’s satisfying to convert our potential into representative starting positions. In Q3 it was a very close fight with Williams, with Nico just edging ahead of Bottas. There are several strategy options for us to explore this evening, but we are well placed to make the most of whichever approach we take in the race. Tomorrow should bring an interesting and exciting race”
Sergio Perez (MEX) Force India VJM09 at Formula One World Championship,
Rd12, German Grand Prix, Qualifying, Hockenheim, Germany, Saturday 30
July 2016. © Sutton Images
Kevin Magnussen, 17th, 1:16.716
“My lap wasn’t the best and I lost out by the smallest amount from getting into Q2. Both cars were very evenly matched and it was Jo that got the upper hand today. We didn’t seem to be able to pick up the pace between FP3 and qualifying as much as our rivals however our long run pace does look more favourable and that’s what we need for a stronger result tomorrow.”
Jolyon Palmer, 16th, 1:16.665
“It’s good to be back in Q2 ! The car is improving overall, there is clear progress. We were close to Q2 in Silverstone, we should have been there for Hungary and now here we are in Hockenheim. I’m looking forward to the race ; we had better pace in Budapest but started lower in P17 than here. I was driving pretty well in Hungary bar one corner, so if I can drive well around the Hockenheimring for every corner then I should have a good chance to score points.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
"It was a step in the right direction. We always want more but it was good for Jo to get through to Q2 especially with the lap times so very close here. If we can unlock just a little more pace from the car we’ll continue to work our way up the order so it’s been a positive day. We seem to have better long run tyre performance even than in Hungary on the same compounds of Pirelli’s tyres so this bodes well for us. It looks like the weather will continue to be dry so there’s good scope and potential for both cars climb through the field."
Jolyon Palmer (GBR) Renault Sport
F1 Team RS16 at Formula One World Championship, Rd12, German Grand
Prix, Qualifying, Hockenheim, Germany, Saturday 30 July 2016. © Sutton
Images
Toro Rosso
Kvyat had a bad day at the office - unable to fully explain his lack of pace, he exited in Q1. Sainz qualified in 13th but was subsequently given a three-place grid drop for impeding Massa during Q2.Carlos Sainz, 13th, 1:15.989
“A very difficult qualifying session. We are struggling here in Hockenheim – we always knew that a power circuit like this one was going to be a challenge for us, as we are not quick enough on the straights. Having said that, I think I put in a very good lap. I feel good in the car and the package is working, but this is the most we could extract from the car today. Tomorrow we will try and fight for more points – of course it won’t be easy but we will surely give it our all and try and finish as high up as possible; it would be good to go on holiday with a few more points in the bag!”
Daniil Kvyat, 19th, 1:16.876
“I’m disappointed, I didn’t drive well in today’s qualifying session and my last lap wasn’t good enough to get through to Q2 – I lost my references, made some mistakes and just couldn’t put a good lap together. We looked promising yesterday, but today when it really mattered we were just not there. I’m upset and I’m not at my usual level, that’s for sure – we all go through some periods where we don’t feel good in the car and that’s where I am now. I just need to have a bit of a better understanding of what’s going on around me and try and come to some conclusions in order to feel confident in the car again. It’s a tough task to get back to my level, but I’m young and I’m sure we will find some answers soon. The good thing is that I feel that the solution isn’t that far away… We had a good Friday yesterday for the first time in a while, so we need to look into that. Tomorrow is the race and we will try to fight our way back. I haven’t got much to lose so I will just go for it!”
Phil Charles, Chief Race Engineer
“A very difficult Saturday for us. It was clearly a very tight pack in the mid field today. Unfortunately for Daniil he had two scrappy runs in Q1, the second of which had a slow first sector with a small mistake in T1. This proved very costly as it was enough to mean he didn’t make Q2. Carlos’s story was a bit happier in Q1, where he got through into Q2 in 12th place, but unfortunately he needed two sets of tyres to do this when we had hoped to make it through on one. Then, in Q2, he did two pretty clean laps but our sector 2 times were simply not strong enough and he finished P13. Of the midfield pack the Force Indias were strong today and the Haas did a particularly good job, with Gutierrez to be in front of us. We were very close with the two McLarens and Carlos was placed between them. Unfortunately he did baulk Massa in T2 on his first run in Q2, which now means a 3 grid position penalty. We will make sure that our apologies are given.”
30 July 2016. © Sutton Images
Force India
Perez ran wide in FP3, damaging his VJM09. The team fixed the issues swiftly and despite reduced running, he was able to qualify for Q3 along with his team mate. Hulkenberg in front of his home crowd just edged the intra-team battle, grabbing seventh spot to Perez's ninth.Nico Hülkenberg, 7th, 1:15.510
“I’m feeling pretty happy to qualify in seventh for my home race – it’s best of the rest behind the top three teams and a good effort by the whole team. Our objective is always to maximise our potential and it feels like we achieved that today. Most of my laps in the session came together nicely and my final effort in Q3 was spot on. We can expect a tough fight for good points tomorrow, but we are in a good starting position and we’ve looked strong here in all the sessions. The long run pace is competitive, too, so we’ve got every chance of getting a great result this weekend. There is talk of some rain tomorrow and to be honest I would not mind a shower during the race, but let’s wait and see what happens.”
Sergio Perez, 9th, 1:15.537
“It was a fun and very intense fight with Nico and the two Williams cars throughout qualifying, and in the end it was really close between the four of us. It was crucial to get through Q1 on one set of tyres because some other teams had to use two sets and this gave us a small advantage in Q2, which helped us make the top ten. On my last lap of Q3 I struggled a bit through some of the right-hand corners; I think I may have picked something up on my front wing – maybe some debris – and that cost me some time, but it’s something I will analyse with the team. In the end, it was so close and just a few hundredths of a second made the difference. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We are starting on the supersofts on which we qualified and we will need to work well as a team to make the strategy work and score some important points.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal
“Today’s qualifying performance is a good effort from both sides of the garage and sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. The car has shown good speed since the start of practice and it’s satisfying to convert our potential into representative starting positions. In Q3 it was a very close fight with Williams, with Nico just edging ahead of Bottas. There are several strategy options for us to explore this evening, but we are well placed to make the most of whichever approach we take in the race. Tomorrow should bring an interesting and exciting race”
No comments:
Post a Comment