21/09/2013
NEWS STORY
Valtteri Bottas qualified 16th with Pastor Maldonado 18th for tomorrow's Singapore Grand Prix. Both drivers went out on the supersoft tyre for their second runs in Q1, with Pastor unable to progress into Q2. Valtteri drove a clean lap in Q2 posting a time of 1:45.388 on the supersoft tyre.
Valtteri Bottas: We're pushing as hard as we can with the car and I was pleased with my lap in Q2 as we managed to improve a bit. This is where we are with the car in terms of pure pace but we'll do everything we can to make the most of it. It's going to be a hard race for the cars and drivers tomorrow, but all we can do is our best, stay in the race and take every opportunity we can.
Pastor Maldonado: We have been struggling with the car since the first practice session this weekend and it is very tricky to drive. We couldn't make the tyres work today and I suffered from a bit of traffic towards the end. The conditions will be difficult but we'll do our best in the race tomorrow and try to get the maximum out of the car.
Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer: We continued doing some mechanical tests to find more grip during FP3 and it was coming to us more as the track conditions improved. We made progress with the tyre management but we could see it would be hard to get into Q2. Pastor qualified 18th whilst Valtteri was able to progress into Q2 and put in a clean lap to get the most out of the car today. We now focus on the race with thermal management of the tyres, strategy and the high potential of safety cars all things to consider for tomorrow. It will be a long, hot and challenging race for both the car and driver, but we'll be fighting as hard as we can to be in a position to bring home some points.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.