21/05/2022
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen: "We are starting second tomorrow which we can be happy about but it was a bit of a shame with the last run. The DRS didn't open so I backed out and aborted the lap as I was losing a lot of time, three or four tenths. That meant we didn't get the opportunity to fight for pole, nevertheless, we will give it a good go tomorrow. Ferrari are looking pretty strong so it will be hard to beat them, they did a long run this morning and it looked strong. Tyre management is going to be really important tomorrow with the heat and you also need overall race pace. Hopefully we'll have more pace tomorrow and there's a long run into turn one so a lot can happen."
Sergio Perez: "Today was tough, there was more to give, especially on my final run in Q3, we tried something different with the set-up and it felt a bit awkward, so I didn't get a great lap. I have felt like I have been struggling throughout the weekend, I haven't been comfortable, we tried some things on the car and the pace was there but I couldn't quite make it work to put that lap together today. It's not an ideal result but I think we will have good race pace and we will push from the start. I still think we can fight from fifth, tomorrow is a long race and anything can happen. I think it is going to be very hot, especially for the tyres, degradation will be high so it will be an interesting one. Ferrari were very strong today so we will see what we are able to do against them come race day, hopefully we are able to get them back. Tomorrow is a different situation and our long runs have looked good in practice so we can be confident."
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "I'm pleased we will start from the front row tomorrow with Max in P2, as he had a DRS issue on his final lap which meant he didn't get the chance to reply to that final lap from Charles. While I don't think we had enough to beat his time today, I do think we'd have been closer without that issue. It shows that it's such fine margins in this sport and that's the same with Checo, he didn't quite nail Sector One which means he starts from P5, but he'll race ok from there. In these temperatures it's all going to be about tyre degradation and management, so I think it will be a very close and fascinating race tomorrow."