24/06/2017
NEWS STORY
Daniil Kvyat: "I think the only way of getting into Q3 today was by managing to get a massive tow or slipstream from someone, like what happened to me in Q1 - that was a mega lap that put me P5! In Q2 I didn't get the chance to do this again, but I enjoyed some clean laps. I'm satisfied with P11. For tomorrow, you can never be 100% confident about anything here in Baku, but we will obviously try and do our best and see where we finish."
Carlos Sainz: "I would've preferred to have felt a bit more confident going into this qualifying session. Yesterday we had a very interrupted and rough day and we didn't get to do some proper running due to the yellow flags and traffic... So it was difficult to tune the car and get it to my liking. This meant that we went into qualifying with a bit of a compromise, not feeling fully confident, and in the end we've ended up paying for this. Having said that, I think that even if I had been totally confident with the car, Q3 was still extremely difficult today because of these long straights. Hopefully tomorrow is different and we're able to get into a rhythm in the race - if we do this, I'm sure we can show some very good pace and move forward. Unfortunately, I have a three-place grid penalty, but this track offers some good overtaking opportunities and we're going to go for it!"
Jody Egginton (Head of Vehicle Performance): "The set-up changes we made overnight provided the expected results meaning that, other than normal adjustments to the various systems, we were able to focus on tyre preparation and utilisation with both drivers. We could also navigate the yellow flags without a big impact on the run programmes, although Carlos was unlucky to have his best lap disrupted by a yellow flag in Sector 1. FP3 tyre performance suggested that an extended run in Q1 could provide flexibility, so we took this approach and it paid off. We then elected to take the same approach for Q2. However, we were missing the last couple of tenths to make it into Q3 and Daniil was also forced out of phase due to a bit of traffic, so we were not able to progress to Q3 on this occasion, which is disappointing. Nonetheless, our grid positions provide us with a choice on starting tyre and we will aim to take advantage from this. Regarding our expectations for the race, the car was fairly well balanced during long-runs on Friday, so our task now is to make best use of this and move forwards with both cars tomorrow."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Baku, here.