F1: Miami GP Post-Qualifying Quotes

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Sergio Perez (1st, 1:27.713): “I am very happy; I feel like I am in a good moment, but it is a long season, and it is all about consistency. Overall, I was happy with today, we delivered when it mattered, and under a lot of pressure. It was good. We had a difficult weekend up until qualifying it has been a struggle. The track was improving, but this tarmac has only recently been laid, and is really sensitive, it has made things a little tricky so I needed that second lap. I knew coming into Turn 3 that you cannot leave anything on the table, and it was important to make sure it was a strong lap. It never feels nice when you see another driver crashing or a red flag on track, and I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to go again, and not end the session there, but that was it. I just want to do well tomorrow, it’s a new day, and anything can happen. I have to be fully committed, and we have to try to do our own race. The target is to get the perfect launch, and then the perfect race. I am very happy; I feel like I am in a good moment, but it is a long season, and it is all about consistency.”

Max Verstappen (9th, 1:27.363): “It’s painful, and upsetting, we’ve been really quick all weekend. The initial problem starts with me today, I was taking the car to its limit, and I made a mistake. I had to abort the lap, and then you rely on a bit of luck that there won’t be a red flag. It’s painful, and upsetting, we’ve been really quick all weekend, my fastest lap in Q2 would have been quick enough for pole which I think says that we have a quick enough car. Of course, I go into every weekend trying to win, but starting ninth is not the optimum position. My minimum target tomorrow should be P2. It’s going to be tough tomorrow for sure, but I made it tough for myself.”

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: “We’re obviously disappointed not to have both cars up there, but we’re looking forward to what should be a really exciting race. Checo got a superb first lap, the wind was getting up, and you could see a few of the cars were struggling, but Checo navigated it perfectly to deliver when it counts to get the pole, which we’re delighted with. It was frustrating for Max not to get that chance on the second run, there will be a lot of work for him to do tomorrow, but we’ve seen him come through from 15th to win previously, and you can’t rule a driver like Max out. We’re obviously disappointed not to have both cars up there, but we’re looking forward to what should be a really exciting race.”

Scuderia Ferrari

Carlos Sainz (3rd, 1:27.686): “It was coming together as a very good qualifying until the end. This P3 is not too bad, but I feel I had very strong pace, and maybe we could have fought for more. It was an unfortunate moment for Charles, but these things can happen, and tomorrow we go again. The race will not be an easy one for sure, and we’ll keep an eye on changing weather conditions. We’ll fight hard to bring home a good result!”

 

Charles Leclerc (7th, 1:27.712): “I pushed too hard on my last lap in Q3, and there are no excuses to be made. We will start from P7 tomorrow, and the weather looks like it could mix things up. I hope to have a clean race, and will push to make my way back to the front.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “First of all, well done to Carlos for his best qualifying of the season, even though he might have gone even quicker on his second run. We could have had a better team result as it was clear that Charles was also very quick. He was pushing hard as always in the final phase, and unfortunately, he hit the wall. However, when you are chasing pole, mistakes can happen. The top ten on the grid is certainly unusual, with some of the expected front-runners further back, so it looks like being an interesting race tomorrow. For our part, we hope to see the fruits of the race preparation we have done between yesterday, and today as this will be a tough race in terms of tire management. Then there are the usual scenarios that can arise when racing between the walls, plus there’s a chance of rain tomorrow, which could shake things up as well.”

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

George Russell (6th, 1:28.086): “The car is just not working for us this weekend. We’re struggling a lot with the balance, and it’s bouncing around a little bit. The performance isn’t coming to us which is a shame as everyone is working so hard to achieve it. As the grip has been laid down, and the track has improved, we’ve seemingly got slower. Clearly, this is a bit of an outlier as a circuit as can be seen by the pace of some of the other cars. Ultimately though, we need to do a better job. I’m not going to take any pride in qualifying P6. We’re working for more, and we’re capable of more. It’s challenging as in FP1, everything felt smooth. As the weekend has progressed, the feeling in the car has got worse. It’s rare that that happens, but it just hasn’t quite come together here in Miami.”

Lewis Hamilton (13th, 1:27.846): “It was a struggle out there as we weren’t that quick today. It was quite an up, and down session; there were a couple of good moments where the car was feeling alive, and I thought we were going to be OK. It was frustrating that we didn’t get into Q3 as we should have. I was hopeful, but the timing at the end was just off. I got backed up by a lot of traffic in the final corner, and just couldn’t get the tires in the window. Overall, we just struggled with the balance of the car. I gave it everything I had, but it didn’t happen today. I’ll now get my head down, and try, and come back tomorrow.”

Toto Wolff, Team Principal: “In the end, the car we have right now is simply lacking performance -, and our problems compound from there. It has a very narrow operating window, and it’s on a knife edge for the drivers. When it’s good, we can deliver solid performances. If it’s bad, then we struggle, and that’s what happened today. We can’t take satisfaction from being P6 when that’s only thanks to the red flag -, and probably our true level was behind that. Our lack of performance today was emphasized by how close the whole field is behind the Red Bulls. At points, there were almost ten cars within two tenths -, and that means that every detail counts. In Q2, we were trying to give the drivers the best position on track, but we made a mistake. You could see in Lewis’ first sector that the tires just weren’t there, and that ultimately cost him the chance to move into Q3. We will now see what we can do tomorrow, and try to recover from our starting positions; there were some signs of stronger pace on high fuel, but we shouldn’t go into the race expecting miracles. It’s going to be a tough battle for points.”

Andrew Shovlin: “We weren’t quick enough today. We had a bit of luck with George to finish sixth, but Lewis, on the other hand, was disadvantaged by being stuck in a group on the out lap, and couldn’t bring the tires in. Clearly, we’ve not got the measure of this track. We started the weekend well when the track was at its worst, but as the circuit has gripped up it feels like others are getting the benefit, and we’ve stood still. We’ll put all our energy into preparing for the race now. The grid is mixed up so that may help us find opportunity to move forward tomorrow. If the degradation is high, or we get incidents, then we may be able to bring our second set of hard tires into play which could provide some opportunity. However, the real opportunity will come from good long run pace. After the interrupted sessions, it’s impossible to know where everyone is going to fall out so tomorrow will be one of those races where we’re very much forming the plans as we go.”

BWT Alpine F1 Team

Pierre Gasly (5th, 1:28.061): “I’m very pleased with today’s Qualifying, and starting in fifth puts us in a good position for the race. It’s great that both Esteban, and I are in the top ten to secure an important team result, especially after last weekend. It’s important for us to come back strong. The red flag was unfortunate just as we were about to begin our final lap on new Soft tires as I was feeling pretty good, and it would have been interesting to see where we would have finished. That said, my lap on used tires was decent, enough to be fifth on the grid, and we’re all looking ahead to tomorrow’s race where we must aim to convert this performance into points.”

Esteban Ocon (8th, 1:27.872): “What a difference a week makes. I’m proud of the team for this strong recovery after our disappointment in Baku, and we very much deserved to have both cars in Q3 in Qualifying. We were probably a little unlucky with the red flag at the end as I do feel there was more on the table, and we could have been higher up the grid. We’re still in a good position for tomorrow’s race, and we have a good enough car here to come away from this weekend with points in the bag.”

Alan Permane, Sporting Director: “As a team, we are happy with today’s Qualifying result with Pierre in fifth, and Esteban in eighth. We’ve had a very strong Saturday, right from the beginning, with a productive Free Practice where we were able to fine tune the cars ahead of Qualifying. Both Q1, and Q2 were relatively trouble free for us, and we looked quick enough throughout to comfortably reach Q3. Pierre managed a fantastic lap on his used Soft tire to go fifth, so credit to him for maximizing that run. There was a little more on the table for Esteban on his effort, but it’s still a solid job, and he’s also put himself in a good position in eighth. It’s great to have both cars comfortably in Q3 –, and deservedly so –, and it’s important now we can convert this result into points in tomorrow’s race. The weather in this part of Florida can be unpredictable, and we’ll be ready to take any opportunity.”

McLaren F1 Team

Lando Norris (16th, 1:28.394): “Tough day for us. Not the result we wanted, but almost the best we could have done. I made a small mistake which might have cost me one position, but the fact is we just didn’t have the pace to be competitive today. It’s a shame, but we’ll have to try to do what we can to go forwards tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri (19th, 1:28.484): “I’m disappointed to be out in Q1. It was very close between everyone around us. We knew it was going to be tough today, and so it proved. We’ll have a look, and see what we can do tomorrow to try to move forwards.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: “Overall, a difficult Saturday for us. From FP3, we were aware that we had lost some relative competitiveness in these hot conditions. Things were a little better in qualifying compared to FP3, but not enough to progress from Q1. The group of cars around us is exceptionally compact, and the difference between being out in Q1 or having both cars in Q3, like we had in Baku, is tiny. We know this result can happen until we improve the car further, which we plan to do over the course of the season. In the short term, we stay calm, we learn from today, and prepare for the race tomorrow, where points are ultimately distributed.”

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake

Valtteri Bottas (10th, 1:27.864): “It’s great to be back in Q3, and I’m very pleased to be in the top ten ahead of the race. We made a big step forward overnight, and managed to get the most out of the setup, which shows the team is doing a good job at bouncing back from the last few races. The red flag in Q3 obviously penalized us: I only had one set of tires left, and couldn’t set a time when the session was interrupted, but I think we could have been even higher up in the standings. There’s no point focusing on that, however: the potential for a good result is there, and we must prepare well to fight for points tomorrow. It’s going to be a long race and, as we have seen, it is very easy to make a mistake here;, but we are confident, and motivated, and if we do our jobs well, we have a solid chance to bring home a good result.”

Guanyu Zhou (14th, 1:28.180): “Today has been a good day for the team, and a sign that we can get back into the fight for points. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car, especially compared to the last few races, so we are moving in the right direction. Q1 has been a clean session for me, but in Q2 I suffered a bit being at the front of the pack. I missed the slipstream and, in such a tight field, that was enough not to make the cut. Miami is a tricky circuit, and traffic in the final sector, especially in Q1, was a bit of an issue; nevertheless, I am happy to see our package working well around here, as this is a big motivation ahead of tomorrow. We will give everything, in the knowledge we have the pace to fight for the points.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “Today’s result is a positive step forward, and a big motivational boost for everyone in the team. We looked confident, and the car worked well, and to hit the first Q3 of the year is a reward for the work all of us in the team have put in to recover from a few disappointing performances in the last rounds. Everyone went above, and beyond to understand our issues, and address them, and this is a step in the right direction:, but our work is not done, and we need to keep working hard to continue progressing. Valtteri did an excellent job in Q1, and Q2, but the red flag in Q3 means we’ll never know where he would have been in a full session. We also have to give credit to Zhou for his work in Q2: when his final lap was compromised, he worked with Valtteri to give his team-mate a tow, and help him into Q3 – this is the spirit of this team. Now we must remain grounded, and focus on tomorrow’s race. It’ll be a long race on an unforgiving track, and we’ll need to be at our sharpest to bring home some points.”

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team

Fernando Alonso (2nd, 1:28.179): “It was a very good qualifying session. Things have been a bit up, and down for the last few events – Baku was very difficult – but, over a regular weekend format, we’ve been able to experiment with a few different options on the car. We put it all together for qualifying – the car felt good., and there was still a lot more pace in the car because my Q3 lap was done on used Softs. On my second run, on fresh rubber, I was already a few tenths up –, but then the yellow flags came out. The result gives us a lot of confidence for tomorrow – Sunday is usually our day; we take care of the tires, and have good race pace. Plus, starting further up the grid always makes things a little easier. Getting on the podium will still be difficult, but we’ll just do our race – it’s going to be tough, but we’ll enjoy it.”

Lance Stroll (18th, 1:28.476): “Qualifying didn’t go my way today. We made the call to try, and get through Q1 running just one set of Softs. With the benefit of hindsight, that wasn’t the right call: other teams fitted a second set, and saw big improvements., but these things happen –, and Fernando got into Q2 using just the one set, so it was possible. I’m just focusing on the positives: our car feels good, and our race pace is usually very competitive. Tomorrow is when the points are scored –, and there’s a long race ahead.”

Mike Krack, Chief Operating Officer: “This was a particularly tricky day to manage. In FP3, we had to deal with a change in wind direction, and a rapidly changing track surface while also trying to find a good race set-up after two stop-start sessions yesterday. All credit to Fernando, who drove with typical fiery spirit to qualify second – it was a great effort., but we were too aggressive with our tire strategy in Q1, choosing to keep both drivers on used Softs for their second runs. It was a marginal call, and it didn’t work out: the track ramped up, and drivers on fresh rubber found a lot of lap-time. It meant that Lance finished the session an unrepresentative 18th overall. If we’d done a better job, he would have comfortably made it into the next two sessions. We’ll learn from that for the future. We’ve already seen that fortunes can swing wildly at this track, and we’ll be giving it everything to get both cars in the points tomorrow.”

Haas F1 Team

Kevin Magnussen (4th, 1:27.809): “I’m well chuffed with that! In the US, at the Miami Grand Prix, in front of our home crowd, and title sponsor, and other partners – it’s great to be able to get a result like that. Of course, there’s no points for qualifying – we know that –, but we also know what it feels like to have a good qualifying. That was a lot of fun, and hopefully that gets everyone a bit pumped up for tomorrow. I’m very happy to be starting P4 tomorrow, and I’m really pumped.”

Nico Hulkenberg (12th, 1:27.945): “The car felt good, and we definitely should be in the top 10, but unfortunately my last run got really compromised on the out lap in traffic, and I didn’t do the second lap on new tires – my Q2 time was on used tires. It’s frustrating, and a big shame as the car had a lot more in it, and a lot more potential. The car fits well to this place so at least that is a big positive for tomorrow – heading into the race with some pace.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: “A pretty good day today, and obviously an exciting qualifying for everyone. Unfortunately, Nico didn’t make it into Q3, which wasn’t completely down to him. If you’re unhappy about starting P12 it’s not bad, we’re still in a position to get into the points tomorrow. Kevin, ending up in P4 after setting the fastest time on used tires out of his opponents did a fantastic job on that one. The whole team is very upbeat, and everyone did a good job, and now tomorrow we need to keep on delivering, but if everything goes to plan we should get some points.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri

Nyck de Vries (15th, 1:28.325): “Of course, we always want more, but looking at FP1, and FP2, we as a team are satisfied, and happy with the performance gains we made. We found ourselves on the back foot, but the progress we made overnight helped us reach Q2 for the first time, which is a great accomplishment for us. We are lacking long run experience here, and overtaking is difficult, but it will be a long race, and maybe there will be opportunities, which we can capitalize on. Grip levels are low, especially if you are off-line it can become very slippery, but it’s a new day tomorrow, and the race is on!”

Yuki Tsunoda (17th, 1:28.429): “It’s definitely not the result we wanted. We didn’t have the pace from the early stages, and struggled a lot. The midfield is as close as it has been over the past few races, but tomorrow is a new day, so we will see how it goes. We changed the setup a lot, still it didn’t seem to work well, but we have to move on, and remain focussed. The balance itself was alright, however the grip was poor. We have to accept it’s difficult, and it’s not my best qualifying, but we’ll analyze all the data tonight, trying to find some more performance for tomorrow.”

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance: “Since yesterday’s Free Practice sessions, we have been struggling to extract grip from the tires straight out of the box. The overnight analysis led to interesting discussions between the engineers, and we decided to change significantly the setup for today, targeting more aerodynamic load. Unfortunately, FP3 was still difficult, and both drivers were unable to extract the performance from the Soft tires in the opening laps. We did some further analysis, and fine tuning for the qualifying session, which we were expecting to be very tight between the midfield cars. In Q1, we witnessed a huge track improvement from lap to lap. Traffic was well managed, and both cars were able to do clean laps. That was enough for Nyck to get through to Q2, which is a nice reward for the hard work from everyone on his side of the garage. Back on track, Nyck had two attempts, one on a used tire, and the last lap on a new set. Again, we could locate ourselves in a good traffic window, but it wasn’t enough to progress in the rankings. As for Yuki, he couldn’t put the three sectors together, and missed the cut by less than half a tenth, which is frustrating. With the starting grid a little bit mixed up at the front, we can expect some action tomorrow. We will analyze the various strategies tonight to be ready to take advantage, and get closer to the points. The weather could also play a role, and create opportunities. When you start from the back, it’s easier to take some risks, and we’re up for the fight!”

Williams Racing

Alexander Albon (11th, 1:28.234): “I think we maximized everything in Qualifying, and we’re in a good position for tomorrow. Sometimes you get upset because you’re so close to Q3, but then you have to remember, it’s still a good job. I’m happy with the lap that I did, and we did what was right for our car. We really need a clean out lap to get the tires in a good place, and that’s why we tend to do a bit better on a Saturday than other teams. With the track evolution the way it is, it’s so aggressive, much more than most tracks we go to because the grips so low, so that five minutes is enough for the track to be another tenth, and that means Q3. It’s a big unknown what the tires are going to do in the race, but starting P11, hopefully we can turn it into something tomorrow.”

Logan Sargeant (20th, 1:28.577): “We made a pretty good step from FP3 to Quali, and had the car in a good place. I had the couple of tenths needed to advance to Q2. I needed to do it on the first push, but I did it on the second, and I felt like the tires were graining towards the second, and third sectors of that lap. It was extremely tight out there with fine margins. We’ll take the positives which should leave us in a better place for the race. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’ll try, and be opportunistic, and make the most of it.”

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: “Although the weather conditions were stable today, it was still a tricky day with both sessions difficult to negotiate. There was still a lot of variation amongst the teams as to how to get the best out of the tires, and this made finding a gap in the traffic difficult. We had a productive FP3 session, and were able draw some conclusions on the changes that we made overnight. Alex was mostly happy with his car, but Logan was still having a few issues. Further changes were made, and both drivers went into Q1 in good shape. Alex did a very good job in Q1, and with help from his team, he was in a good place on the track throughout the session. Logan too was in a good position, but a small error on his first timed lap put him on the back foot. He recovered exceptionally well to end the first run faster than Alex. Both had good second runs, and Logan was only a few tenths slower than Alex. Unfortunately, the midfield is so tight that Logan was unable to progress to Q2. We opted to give Alex a single run in Q2, and this almost got him into Q3, which would’ve been an excellent result. Although he missed Q3 by only 0.05s, he is still in a good position to race tomorrow.”

Pirelli Tires

MARIO ISOLA, HEAD OF MOTORSPORT

“Qualifying was both exciting, and dramatic, with a distinctly Spanish-speaking flavor to the top three: Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Carlos Sainz. As expected, pole was a lot faster than last year when Miami made its debut, with an improvement of nearly two seconds (1.955s to be exact) that might have been even bigger had the final runs of Q3 taken place. The softs showed good performance: they were quick not only on the first flying lap, but were also able to recover grip after one or two cool-down laps, giving drivers the chance to improve their positions. The data collected so far suggests that a one stopper from medium to hard is the best theoretical way to run the race. The slight shortening of the pit lane opens up the possibility of a two-stopper, but we’ve also seen a bit of graining on the softs over long runs. This is the case if the weather remains stable, but forecasts indicate that rain could come into play on Sunday, either before or during the race., and as everyone knows, if it rains, anything can happen…”