13/09/2020
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez: "I think we did really well to maximise the situation to get to P5 considering how crazy the race was, and it's good points for the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships. I'm also relieved to hear that Lance is OK after his big crash. The key to our race was keeping our focus and staying calm in all the incidents and red flags, which we managed to do. I think the podium was a possibility for us today, but we just didn't quite have the pace or the balance to make it into the fight for the podium. It was tough to come to a new race circuit and adapt quickly, but I think we did well to fight inside the top five this weekend. We also saw today that the upgrade Lance ran was promising throughout the weekend, so I'm looking forward to trying it out for myself in the coming races."
Lance Stroll: "First of all, I'm OK after what was a big impact. We're still investigating the cause of the crash. It all happened so quickly, but it felt like a puncture. We need to go away and look at the data and fully confirm the reasons for it. There were some really strong points on the table and we were closing on Ricciardo for the final podium place before the accident, and it was all set up for an exciting finale. I'm pleased with how the upgraded package performed this weekend, and it gives us a good platform for the coming races. We were able to make a good start to the race and get a good launch in the restart to keep out of trouble until late on. It was an unfortunate result and sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles, but I'll take the positives!"
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "A challenging day for the team on many fronts with two race stoppages, including a big accident for Lance caused by what looks like a puncture. It was very bad luck because Lance was fighting for the podium all afternoon. He was running in fourth place and the failure happened just as we asked him to push up and overtake Ricciardo for third. Fortunately, he is ok after a significant impact with the tyre barrier at turn nine. As for Checo, he raced well, but we couldn't quite match the race pace of Albon and Ricciardo in the end. So we leave Mugello with ten more points and having closed slightly on third place in the Constructors' Championship. A day of mixed fortunes in every sense as we cross the mid-way point in the season. After three triple-headers in a row, I have to say a huge well done to the team for their efforts in such a condensed period. We will aim to be even more competitive in the second half of the season and there were promising signs from the upgrade package, so we're looking forward to the rest of the campaign."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Mugello, here.