03/07/2021
NEWS STORY
Pierre Gasly: "It feels like every weekend we're Qualifying in a similar position and I'm really happy with that, sixth is another strong performance for us, so today is a good day. I haven't been as comfortable in the car this weekend for some reason, so going into Quali we had a bit of an unknown, which is why I'm really pleased we managed to make it work this afternoon. We're the first cars starting on Softs tomorrow, so strategy will definitely be key in the race. We've shown that the car has the pace though, so I'm feeling confident."
Yuki Tsunoda: "I'm really happy with today's performance, it's my best Qualifying so far. I want to say a big thank you to the team, who have maintained the pace from last week and managed to put it all together when it counted the most. My final lap was pretty good, even though I didn't get a slip stream, so I've got to be pleased with that. It's been really helpful for my learning to be here in Austria for two races in a row, it's allowed me to build up my confidence and I think that shows in my performance today. Tomorrow is key, I don't know what the conditions will be like during the race, but tyre management will be crucial to scoring points, which is what I'm aiming for."
Claudio Balestri (Chief Engineer - Vehicle Performance): "Today was a busy day. Track temperatures were very different, compared to Friday, so we had to take this into consideration when setting up our cars. In the morning session, we continued to test the new tyre for this event and then we focused our attention on Qualifying preparation. At the end of FP3 we were not fully satisfied, as the balance was not really optimised, especially for the softer compound at this race. We made some adjustments to the car ahead of Qualifying and it paid off, with both cars making it through to Q3. The session was very tricky, with other teams opting for a different tyre strategy and using the Mediums in the later stages, but we wanted to maximise our opportunity to enter Q3 and in the end it worked well. We now switch our focus to the race and will continue to keep an eye on the weather, as we review the data this evening."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spielberg, here.