02/04/2016
NEWS STORY
A much-improved performance under the new qualifying format saw Manor Racing's Pascal Wehrlein storm to 16th place in Bahrain today. He banked an impressive early lap on the SuperSoft to earn a second run, his time just a couple of tenths shy of a place in Q2. Teammate Rio Haryanto had to settle for a single shot at Q1 and will line up for his second Grand Prix in 20th place for tomorrow's 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Pascal Wehrlein: "I'm so happy! Such a difference from Melbourne! It was a shame to miss out on Q2 but I'm so pleased to be as close as we are and it's a really good position to build from. I need to thank the team for their hard work in giving me a car I felt comfortable in. We're in a good place for tomorrow, although we're still experiencing some degradation issues on the long runs. It's a long race, so we need to manage that. It would be great to get the same kind of start as the last race and I hope we can stay competitive with the cars around us."
Rio Haryanto: "After a really good FP3 this morning I'm quite disappointed with my qualifying session. I only had time for one shot at it again and I didn't get enough out of my push lap. Clearly there is more to come from the car and from me so we'll have to see what happens with this format and work to optimise whatever solution we have in China. It's a harder job for tomorrow now but I'm still looking forward to it as I was much happier with our race pace yesterday."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "A truly fantastic performance from Pascal today. We've made a pretty good step here but he definitely had the bit between his teeth after FP3 and knew a good result was within his grasp. We spent a lot of time looking at what we needed to do here after the disappointment of Melbourne and it's good to see that translating into real progress. We were just a couple of tenths away from Q2 as well, so although there's plenty of room for improvement, we're heading in the right direction. Rio has had a better weekend here also and was looking good in FP3. He didn't quite get his lap together, which he'll be disappointed with, but it's coming good for him too."
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