17/07/2021
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel: "I have enjoyed this unusual weekend format so far. It was interesting to have the intense moment yesterday evening followed by the Sprint today, which can go either way. For us, it went well and we gained some places for the race tomorrow, and some others lost ground. Fernando [Alonso] made up a lot of places on lap one - starting on the Soft tyres - and I thought he would struggle more in the final laps. I was close behind him, but could not make the move to overtake. This result puts us in a decent starting position for tomorrow [P8], which will be a very different race with the strategy options."
Lance Stroll: "It was good to make up a little bit of ground in the Sprint, but I think we are still searching for the optimal car balance. It was challenging to make up any further places as the midfield bunched up and we ended up in a long train of cars. The positive is that the short race gives us more relevant data to go over and look to find the improvements we need. It is a long race tomorrow; anything can happen, plus the heat will be a factor, as well as the free choice of tyres, so I am looking forward to coming back stronger tomorrow."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "We achieved our objective in today's Sprint - to make progress with both cars - which we did. Lance suffered poor rear grip but nonetheless did extremely well to earn a P14 grid slot for tomorrow's race. Sebastian finished eighth, close behind [Fernando] Alonso, whose Soft tyres were shot by the end, but obviously there was no point in Sebastian risking a back-row start for tomorrow's race by attempting to wrest P7 from Alonso, especially for no points reward. He will therefore start tomorrow's race from a solid P8, from where he ought to be able to score points. From P14, over a full-distance 52-lap race, Lance, too, will be aiming to make up places and score points. Our objective must therefore be a double points finish at our home Grand Prix, proudly flying the Union Flag on both cars!"
Check out our Saturday gallery from Silverstone, here.