30/09/2017
NEWS STORY
Felipe Massa qualified 11th and Lance Stroll 13th for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Both drivers progressed into the second qualifying session, with Felipe fifth and Lance 14th in Q1. Felipe showed good pace, but was just pushed out of the running for Q3 in the closing stages of the session. Lance improved on every run ending Q2 just 0.273 seconds adrift of Felipe.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: We had a trouble-free session, but overall it was a bit of a disappointing result for us as I think we had the possibility of getting at least one car into Q3 today. The pace certainly seemed to be there in the earlier sessions, but we didn't quite make the same progress as other teams with each set of tyres, so ultimately just missed the cut. On the positive side, the car worked well. Both drivers were happy with the balance and extracted the maximum they were able to from the car. We're still in reasonably good positions to score some points in the race, so we're looking forward to tomorrow.
Felipe Massa: I'm a little bit disappointed not to be in Q3. I was happy with the car and the balance. I had a great Q1 but I didn't have a perfect Q2, to be honest. On the first try I had a little bit of traffic on the high speed laps, which meant I lost a bit of time. And on the second try, the car was bouncing a bit on corner two so I lost a little bit of traction. All of these little problems were enough to lose position.
Lance Stroll: I think it was all right, and all in all it was a good effort from the team. It could have been a bit better in the first sector on my push lap, as on the out-lap the tyres were a bit cold, but overall it was a decent effort and at least we are in Q2. If it is wet tomorrow we would have a bit of an opportunity starting where we are starting, and so be able to capitalise on that. However, even in the dry it could be up to strategy and I think the rear tyres could be a big factor round here. It is always an interesting first corner here, so now we just have to concentrate on the job we have to do and try to get some points, and I do expect a long and hot race.