News
8th November 2014, 20:40
Daniel Ricciardo on why he and Red Bull seemed to lose performance overnight; Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne on how a lack of Friday running blighted his qualifying hopes; and Lotus on the cause of their Saturday struggles - and the reasons they are more optimistic for Sunday.
The drivers and senior team personnel report back after qualifying in Sao Paulo...
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (6th, Q3 - 1:10.938)
"I got happier with the car as qualifying progressed and we're in a solid position to start the race tomorrow. It's hard to beat the Mercedes and Williams from where we are, but this is Brazil and anything can happen; weather can play a big role, it was supposed to rain today and it didn't, but that's Interlagos for you."
Daniel Ricciardo (9th, Q3 - 1:11.075)
"The day was going alright up until qualifying and then we lost a lot of pace. I went out quite early in Q1 and there was a bit of stuff on the track, so I thought it would get better and better but we didn't find the pace we were after. I was surprised to get into Q3 after my lap in Q2. I felt better in Q3, but I was only a tenth or so faster; it's bit frustrating. We should have finished better than ninth, we hoped to be in the top five after the pace we had in practice, but hopefully the car will be better in the race."
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
"It was a totally Mercedes-dominated qualifying; I think sixth and ninth is representative of where are on this track. Daniel lost some pace from this morning and Sebastian found some pace; we're not up as far as we'd like to be. Hopefully, with a wet race tomorrow, we can have a stronger Sunday."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1
"It was good to see both cars inside the top-10, but we were hoping for a little more in terms of pace. Interlagos is a very specific circuit for the Power Unit, with the low ambient pressure requiring the eTurbo to work harder. It's important we manage that in terms of energy usage. The changeable weather conditions and temperature fluctuations both also played their part in making for a tricky qualifying session. Hopefully strategy will be a factor tomorrow, especially if we can make the most of a long run to the first corner. Both drivers proved in Austin they have no problem overtaking other cars!"
Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat (14th, Q2 - No time)
"Tomorrow I will start from the back of the grid because of the penalty we got at the United States Grand Prix, but in Monza and Austin we proved that we can fight for points even in difficult starting situations. I did a good lap in Q1 but, considering the grid penalty, we decided not to go out during Q2, even if I think I could have definitively fought for Q3. Sometimes there are difficult decisions to make but that's also part of racing. Everything can happen during the race and I'm confident that we still have a chance to fight for points tomorrow."
Jean-Eric Vergne (16th, Q2 - 1:12.040)
"Not having completed a lot of mileage in preparation for today's qualifying session, I couldn't get the best out of the car, which was very difficult to drive today. This is not an easy track and there are a few corners in which you really lose a lot of time if you do not have the right balance. If you consider the lack of mileage and the fact that we've struggled with the tyres for the whole weekend, we just didn't manage to set up the car to my liking. But of course, the race is tomorrow and everything can happen, especially here. I'll do my best!"
Phil Charles, Toro Rosso chief race engineer
"Not an easy day today for us. Daniil had a 7 place penalty, which we knew about already, so we had a decision to make: to run for Q2 trying to go into Q3, knowing that we would have been dropped back anyway, effectively using another set of tyres - considering his good performance today, or just save tyres for tomorrow. He drove very well in Q1, so to keep him in the garage was not an easy decision to take. We are very pleased with his performance and without a penalty he could have had a great day today. For Jev it's a different story. He didn't run in FP1, we had a technical problem in FP2 so he started the day facing an uphill battle. He is not particularly pleased with the car, but hopefully we will make the right decisions for tomorrow and look after the tyres, as tyre management will be a key point in the race."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader
"Daniil's penalty was always something we had to factor in, and as we're expecting a lot of tyre degradation tomorrow it was a strategic decision not to run him in Q2. I'm also disappointed for Jean-Eric, who completed just two laps throughout Friday's two practice sessions. FP2 was especially important due to the hot conditions, so the ERS issue at the start of the afternoon really hurt him. But at least we know that neither driver's starting position is representative of their true pace, so fingers crossed for a better Sunday."
Lotus
Romain Grosjean (15th, Q1 - 1:12.037)
"We knew this afternoon's qualifying would be very close and it looks like some teams found more pace today than we did which means we didn't quite make it through Q1. The team has done a lot of work on my car overnight and it felt a lot better this morning
More... (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/11/16607.html)
The drivers and senior team personnel report back after qualifying in Sao Paulo...
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (6th, Q3 - 1:10.938)
"I got happier with the car as qualifying progressed and we're in a solid position to start the race tomorrow. It's hard to beat the Mercedes and Williams from where we are, but this is Brazil and anything can happen; weather can play a big role, it was supposed to rain today and it didn't, but that's Interlagos for you."
Daniel Ricciardo (9th, Q3 - 1:11.075)
"The day was going alright up until qualifying and then we lost a lot of pace. I went out quite early in Q1 and there was a bit of stuff on the track, so I thought it would get better and better but we didn't find the pace we were after. I was surprised to get into Q3 after my lap in Q2. I felt better in Q3, but I was only a tenth or so faster; it's bit frustrating. We should have finished better than ninth, we hoped to be in the top five after the pace we had in practice, but hopefully the car will be better in the race."
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
"It was a totally Mercedes-dominated qualifying; I think sixth and ninth is representative of where are on this track. Daniel lost some pace from this morning and Sebastian found some pace; we're not up as far as we'd like to be. Hopefully, with a wet race tomorrow, we can have a stronger Sunday."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1
"It was good to see both cars inside the top-10, but we were hoping for a little more in terms of pace. Interlagos is a very specific circuit for the Power Unit, with the low ambient pressure requiring the eTurbo to work harder. It's important we manage that in terms of energy usage. The changeable weather conditions and temperature fluctuations both also played their part in making for a tricky qualifying session. Hopefully strategy will be a factor tomorrow, especially if we can make the most of a long run to the first corner. Both drivers proved in Austin they have no problem overtaking other cars!"
Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat (14th, Q2 - No time)
"Tomorrow I will start from the back of the grid because of the penalty we got at the United States Grand Prix, but in Monza and Austin we proved that we can fight for points even in difficult starting situations. I did a good lap in Q1 but, considering the grid penalty, we decided not to go out during Q2, even if I think I could have definitively fought for Q3. Sometimes there are difficult decisions to make but that's also part of racing. Everything can happen during the race and I'm confident that we still have a chance to fight for points tomorrow."
Jean-Eric Vergne (16th, Q2 - 1:12.040)
"Not having completed a lot of mileage in preparation for today's qualifying session, I couldn't get the best out of the car, which was very difficult to drive today. This is not an easy track and there are a few corners in which you really lose a lot of time if you do not have the right balance. If you consider the lack of mileage and the fact that we've struggled with the tyres for the whole weekend, we just didn't manage to set up the car to my liking. But of course, the race is tomorrow and everything can happen, especially here. I'll do my best!"
Phil Charles, Toro Rosso chief race engineer
"Not an easy day today for us. Daniil had a 7 place penalty, which we knew about already, so we had a decision to make: to run for Q2 trying to go into Q3, knowing that we would have been dropped back anyway, effectively using another set of tyres - considering his good performance today, or just save tyres for tomorrow. He drove very well in Q1, so to keep him in the garage was not an easy decision to take. We are very pleased with his performance and without a penalty he could have had a great day today. For Jev it's a different story. He didn't run in FP1, we had a technical problem in FP2 so he started the day facing an uphill battle. He is not particularly pleased with the car, but hopefully we will make the right decisions for tomorrow and look after the tyres, as tyre management will be a key point in the race."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader
"Daniil's penalty was always something we had to factor in, and as we're expecting a lot of tyre degradation tomorrow it was a strategic decision not to run him in Q2. I'm also disappointed for Jean-Eric, who completed just two laps throughout Friday's two practice sessions. FP2 was especially important due to the hot conditions, so the ERS issue at the start of the afternoon really hurt him. But at least we know that neither driver's starting position is representative of their true pace, so fingers crossed for a better Sunday."
Lotus
Romain Grosjean (15th, Q1 - 1:12.037)
"We knew this afternoon's qualifying would be very close and it looks like some teams found more pace today than we did which means we didn't quite make it through Q1. The team has done a lot of work on my car overnight and it felt a lot better this morning
More... (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/11/16607.html)