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Nicholas Latifi:
"From
the first practices there were positive signs, as well as an adjustment
to the driving to get used to the new package, but it’s felt like a
relative step forward in performance. We should have safely been through
to Q2, but the wind picked up for my final lap and I lost a lot of time.
I was progressively chipping away, so I should have been around eight
tenths quicker than the time I did, but it all went away from the
chicane onwards; I lost all the grip. The pace was there in the car and
there are clear signs of improvement with the upgrade. We’ll check the
car overnight and hope that the wind calms down for the race tomorrow." |
|
Alex Albon:
"I think I got a lot out of the car today and was happy with it –
the wind did pick up and I struggled a bit with this. I think we’ve been
slightly fortunate throughout the weekend so far with the low wind, but
it picked up in qualifying and was getting stronger and just went the
wrong way for us. The team are doing a good job and have come up with a
really different package, so we really are fighting towards Q2 which is
exactly where we want to be. Starting P13 puts us in a good place for
tomorrow so let’s see what we can do from there." |
|
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"Conditions got a step trickier during Q1 as the wind picked up and this
seemed to harm our competitiveness. FP3 went well and we did a good job
with the tyres, but we expected that our position in the timesheets was
a bit flattering for the real pace of the car.
Q1 was going well until the wind picked up for the final run. This upset
quite a few drivers, including both Alex and Nicholas. Alex had to abort
his final attempt and Nicky, who was on a good lap at the time, lost a
lot of the gain at T8 and was unable to improve. Fortunately, as other
drivers also struggled, Alex’s time from his first run was good enough
to qualify for Q2. Conditions remained tricky and Alex wasn’t quite sure
how the car would react and so his pace wasn’t as good as it had been
earlier in the weekend. However, due to some PU penalties, we will now
start from 13th and 18th tomorrow. If the wind is favourable, then we
can have a good race from there and look to score some points." |
