10/09/2021
NEWS STORY
Pierre Gasly: "I'm very pleased with today, I think I gave everything out there and it was a very good lap to put us in P6. We really maximised our potential, especially in Q3, where I was able to put it all together. It was tricky, but we know it's always a game of cat and mouse here, as everyone is fighting for a tow. It was very important to get a clean lap and we managed to do that today so I'm really happy. Another P6 for us, I think that's the 11th time I've qualified in the top six this year and it shows that the team are doing such a good job. Tomorrow is going to be 18 intense laps, trying to keep up with the guys in front, and make sure we start Sunday's race in a strong position."
Yuki Tsunoda: "I'm obviously disappointed with today, but it is what it is. Track limits are the same for everyone, so it's just a shame I made that mistake. I think tomorrow's Sprint Qualifying is going to be difficult as it'll be a DRS train, so it'll be hard to overtake, but I'll try my best to make my way forward. I think getting a good start off the line will be really important and the best chance to overtake tomorrow."
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "This was our second Sprint Qualifying weekend of the season and we've used a lot of the learnings from Silverstone, where we didn't fully maximise the format, to plan for this event. This helped us going into FP1, where we worked on understanding the cooling preparation of the car for the race. Our focus was also on Qualifying optimisation, including some aero comparisons, which gave us some good information to analyse ahead of the session. Yuki was making very good progress today and continuing his good form in Quali. We used three sets of tyres in Q1, to try and guarantee him making it into Q2. Unfortunately, track limits in the last corner meant that he didn't make it through today, which is of course disappointing. On the other side of the garage, we had a fantastic Qualifying from Pierre. He was fast in every single session and never made a mistake. He was quick enough to make it through Q1 with just one set of tyres, which allowed him to use two sets in Q3, really making the difference when it counted. P6 is great from Pierre today, we absolutely maximised our package and he is in a strong position going into tomorrow's Sprint Qualifying."