10/10/2015
NEWS STORY
Dry conditions prevailed for qualifying day at the 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in which Will Stevens had the edge over his team-mate for this race, Roberto Merhi. They ended the day in 18th and 19th positions respectively, separated by a little over a tenth of a second.
Will Stevens: "I'm pretty pleased with how we have ended the day. I didn't get a good lap on my first run, but it all came together for my second timed lap and I'm pleased to be ahead for the start of tomorrow's race. We haven't had much opportunity for preparation this weekend, but this morning I got a long run in and the car feels good. My best wishes to Carlos; I'm pleased he is okay."
Roberto Merhi: "I was doing pretty well in qualifying but on the first lap of my second run I went off and flat-spotted my tyres. Then, on my push lap, I made a mistake, which cost me around 0.3s. However, I'm feeling positive for the race and it has been good to get a decent amount of dry running in today. Most importantly today, Carlos is okay. I was very worried for him; he is a good friend. I'm looking forward to seeing him racing when it's best for him to come back."
John Booth, Team Principal: "A much more productive day, in which we have been able to gather quite a bit of data in dry conditions more representative of the forecast for tomorrow's race. We were also able to evaluate our long run pace and I think both drivers are quite pleased with where we have arrived at, given that there has been such a limited amount of running through the weekend. Will and Roberto have resumed their fiercely competitive intra-team battle, so we can expect to see them pushing each other hard in the race. It was a relief to see the thumbs-up from Carlos Sainz this afternoon after what was a nasty-looking crash. We wish him well."
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.