01/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Yuki Tsunoda: "I don't know what to say about today's Shootout, in the end, we just didn't have enough pace. I tried to maximise our opportunity, but our lap time was deleted for the second time by millimetres, so there was definitely frustration.
"As for the Sprint Race, we finished only P16. It was tricky out there, and there wasn't much we could do today. I wasn't able to maximise my performance and extract the maximum out of our car, as we are especially lacking straight-line speed. The pace on the intermediate tyre was ok, but we are quite slow when it's between dry and wet conditions. We've found similar limitations from other tracks, so we take the knowledge from past experiences, reset ourselves, and shift our focus to tomorrow. The pack is still tight, so you always have to be perfect, and you never know what can happen."
Nyck de Vries: "The beginning of the Sprint Qualifying was good; the car felt better than yesterday, but the end of SQ2 was very unfortunate. There was lots of traffic towards the last turn, which turned out to be slight chaos, so we lost our final attempt at getting through to SQ3.
"Then, talking about this afternoon's race, no one had the chance to run the wet compound tyres this weekend, so it was tricky for everyone out there, experiencing new circumstances. I had a poor start, lots of wheelspin and then faced high and early degradation on the intermediate tyre. Given our high degradation we maybe could've boxed one lap earlier, but I think we made the right call in the end. I felt my pace was strong but got stuck behind Logan (Sargeant), who had a strong straight-line performance. As a team, we are united and trying to extract the maximum, but this weekend we have been lacking overall performance, and it just doesn't seem like it's enough."
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "The weather made for quite an exciting day of Sprint action. Heavy overnight rain continued through the morning but then stopped. The track was wet but quickly drying, so we were able to start the Sprint Shootout on slick tyres. With each of our drivers having two brand new sets of the soft tyre remaining from Friday, we had the free choice, which helped us progress to SQ2. We weren't sure if we would need one or two new sets in SQ1, but with good feedback, it was clear that stopping for a second set was the better option. It left us with no new soft tyres for SQ2, so it was hard to compete with the others. Both drivers pushed to the maximum, but in doing so, exceeded track limits on their fastest laps, which cost Yuki a potential P11.
"This afternoon, consistent rain just before the laps to the grid for the Sprint meant the intermediate tyre was the correct choice to start the race on. But no DRS in those conditions, meant it was hard to make up positions. The track dried and we were struggling on the intermediate tyres, so we pitted both drivers for the soft tyre. However, we weren't able to gain on those who either did the same or stayed out on intermediate tyres. With points for the top eight only, it was always going to be a challenge to score today. Now our focus moves to tomorrow's race, where dry conditions are expected."
Check out our Saturday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.