23/09/2023
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso: "It was difficult for us to find any more pace today.
"I extracted the maximum from my laps and I'm happy to keep my run of Q3 appearances going. From track to track, the performance levels keep changing - on paper, we knew it would be challenging today. It will be an interesting race but we are optimistic of scoring good points tomorrow. Usually, we are better in the race so let's see what we can do."
Lance Stroll: "It was a good effort in a tough qualifying session today - but we just didn't have the pace in the car that we ultimately needed. It's not been handling as well as we'd like around here, and I lost a couple of tenths coming out of the last corner. That makes all the difference when the field is as tight as it is. We can still recover a few positions tomorrow and have a good race."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "A tough session today. Both drivers did a good job - but we have to be honest with ourselves: we did not have enough performance to qualify higher. Lance's Q1 run plan was disrupted by the mid-session red flag, and he was unlucky to miss the cut after posting a lap just shy of Fernando's. However, Fernando maintains his consecutive streak of Q3 appearances this year: he will start 10th for tomorrow's Grand Prix. Tyre degradation is likely to play a key role in this race. We have kept one eye on our tyre allocation throughout practice - and we feel we are in good shape for tomorrow. The Japanese Grand Prix is always a tough race, but we will give it everything we've got and aim to score points tomorrow."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Suzuka here.