26/08/2017
NEWS STORY
Sahara Force India delivered a strong performance in today's qualifying session as Sergio Perez ended the day in eighth place ahead of Esteban Ocon in ninth.
Sergio Perez: "I am a bit disappointed with my lap in Q3. I was close to Raikkonen in sector one, but when he aborted his lap in sector two I ended up being too close to him. As a result, I lost of a lot of aerodynamic load and that cost me a couple of tenths. I believe we had the pace to be ahead of the Renault today, but I still think we are in a good position for tomorrow. Spa is a place where anything can happen so it will be important to stay out of trouble and take the opportunities that come our way. The first lap can be really messy: not just in turn one but also at Les Combes, when the pack bunches up again. I think we can be strong tomorrow and I really hope we can get the result that the team deserves."
Esteban Ocon: "I think a better result was possible today. From Q2 onwards I started to lose some grip and we need to analyse and understand what happened. I was three tenths faster on my Q2 lap compared to Q3 so we didn't maximise things and I'm not totally satisfied. However, I feel confident about the race. The car is working well and we have a quick race car, especially in the first and final sectors. That will help us tomorrow. It's a track that encourages good racing and I think there will be opportunities tomorrow and some close battles."
Otmar Szafnauer: "We achieved the objective of getting both cars inside the top ten, which sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. I don't think our final laps in Q3 were optimal and there was a bit more potential in the car, but the important thing is that we are well placed to score good points. We've focussed on setting the car up to race well and hopefully that will pay dividends tomorrow. The forecast suggests we will have similar weather tomorrow with a low risk of rain so if we can make a clean start we have every chance to convert our speed into a solid result for both cars."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spa, here.