09/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Lance Stroll: "We had a good Sprint today. On the Soft compound, we were able to make up some initial positions but then got stuck in a DRS train. It is difficult to make progress given how close the midfield is and the way the Softs dropped off towards the end. We will gain a position on the grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix due to [Valtteri] Bottas's penalty, so that is one place closer to the points. We are understanding more about this new package as well, especially after a strong practice session earlier today."
Sebastian Vettel: "I think [Alex] Albon was a bit optimistic when we were fighting in Turn Six and slid into me, which cost us the chance to bank a decent grid position for tomorrow. I made it out of the gravel, but the car had some damage. It means I will start tomorrow's race almost where we started today. It is a shame because we made some good progress in the early laps and I think starting on the Softs was the right decision. There is still a long race ahead of us and we will try our best to move up the order tomorrow."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "Lance managed his Sprint very well. Like Sebastian, he was one of the few runners to start on the Soft compound, and he looked after those tyres, chasing down Albon and both McLarens. He finished 14th on the road but gained a position due to Albon's five-second penalty. That puts him in a solid position for tomorrow. Sebastian made a good start and was able to quickly catch Albon. He made a fair move around the outside of Albon into Turn Six, but Alex ran wide and his front-right tyre rubbed against Sebastian's left-rear, spinning him into the gravel. Sebastian was able to continue, but we could see his car had suffered some bodywork damage, and we felt the safe thing to do was retire him. From our grid positions today, we showed we can make progress, and we feel we can once again challenge the cars ahead in tomorrow's Grand Prix."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spielberg here.