22/06/2019
NEWS STORY
George Russell qualified 19th and Robert Kubica 20th for the French Grand Prix. George continued to improve on his time with a 1:32.789 on his final flying lap of Q1 to finish P19. Robert's best time of the session was a 1:33.205 to finish P20.
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: Both drivers drove good clean laps in qualifying. George did a solid job today to bounce back, having not taken part in FP1 and then lost FP3 due to a Power Unit electrical issue. This resulted in an ERS module change ahead of Q1. Following set-up changes overnight, Robert also did a good job to close the gap and improve throughout qualifying. Overall, we maximised the package available to us today. The team once again performed well operationally, and we must continue with our long-term development plan to bring more performance.
George Russell: We maximised today's qualifying session. This weekend I have only completed a third of the laps as I missed FP1 and FP3, so to put a good lap on the board was pleasing. Overall, I am satisfied with my performance and let's hope for a good race.
Robert Kubica: The laptimes were not great but driving wise I was quite happy. There was a big track evolution at the end of Q1, the track is rubbering quite a lot which is at least helping to enjoy the driving. If you don't look at the laptimes it doesn't feel bad to drive, but when you lack performance and general grip then the laptimes reflect this.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Le Castellet, here.