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Bottas: “The window hooked exactly”
Regarding his pole position, the Finn explains: “The reduced training time made it very difficult in these cold conditions. So it was very important to hit the sweet spot of the tires in the outlap and hit the window exactly. […] I only have one goal for tomorrow so I hope to get off to a good start and then we’ll see what happens next. “It’s clear what that goal should be. At the World Cup, he’s currently 44 points behind Hamilton.
Sainz: I didn’t know that gravel costs 80 million …
Yesterday it was announced that the Spa track will be modernized. Among other things, there should be more gravel beds again. A total of 80 million euros are being invested. “I didn’t know that gravel costs 80 million today,” smiles Carlos Sainz when asked about it. But he is happy with the decision and hopes that in the future more routes will decide to rely more on gravel beds and grass again.
Photo gallery: Spa-Francorchamps is renovating: more gravel beds and new grandstands
The Spa-Francorchamps race track will be modernized and adapted in the coming years.
Photo gallery
Mercedes: Verstappen does not play a role in planning
Time and time again there is speculation about the future of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has a contract with Red Bull until 2023. But what if he can’t find a competitive motor partner after Honda? Could this be an opportunity for Mercedes to attract Verstappen to its own team? “Max has clearly committed to Red Bull with his statements. I think that is also correct,” emphasizes Toto Wolff.
“He’s loyal to the team. If you drive for a team, you have to be too. I wouldn’t have expected anything else. I wouldn’t expect anything else from our own drivers,” says Wolff, explaining: “What the future brings, we don’t know yet. We are very happy with Valtteri and Lewis. You can see that today too, they are not giving anything. “
“If there is a generational change in the future, it is George [Russell] and Esteban [Ocon] at the starting blocks for a possible role. We will take all of this into account ”, emphasizes Wolff. Hamilton will be 36 in a few months, Bottas 32 next year.
Giovinazzi for the first time in Q2
The Italian reached Q2 for the first time this year on the 11th attempt. So far, he was the only driver eliminated from all ten races in Q1. Even Latifi and the two Haas drivers were already in Q2 (at least) once during the season. Let’s see what will happen tomorrow with Giovinazzi from P14. After all, you are driving for your job!
Grosjean: Best time in Q1 canceled
Yes, the limits of the track were a problem again today. Among other things, they were fatal to Grosjean, who only missed the entrance to Q2 by 0.020 seconds. “We almost got both cars into Q2. Unfortunately, Romain was a bit far behind and his best time was canceled,” explains Haas team boss Günther Steiner. The French will leave tomorrow from P16.
“On my second set of tires, I overdid myself on the first lap and on the second I got into traffic. That was it,” Grosjean reports. At least the teammate made it to Q2, Magnussen will start tomorrow in 15th place. “I think we got the best out of the car in qualifying,” said the Dane cheerfully. As always, tomorrow should be very difficult with points.
Pirelli expects two stops
According to Pirelli, two stops tomorrow are the fastest option on paper. Either soft-medium-soft or soft-medium-medium. Only one stop is slower, the fastest variant here is the medium difficulty strategy. We’ll see. At least it wouldn’t be the first time Pirelli has made two stops, but in the end many drivers go through one. Maybe it’s raining, then all plans will be thrown away anyway …
Rosberg: Albon has to improve in the classification
We have already mentioned Verstappen’s impeccable record in the qualifying match against Albon. TV expert Nico Rosberg says on ‘Sky’ about the Thai: “He had some good results, but his Achilles heel has been qualifying so far. In the last qualifying he was a second slower than Max, today he was five tenths of a second. Even five. One tenth of a second is too much after so many races. “
“That will be a turning point as to whether he can keep his place next year,” believes Rosberg, who is also unsatisfied with the fact that Albon has set himself only fourth place as his goal for the race. “I didn’t like that he looked fourth. I mean, he has a Red Bull. A lot can happen tomorrow. I should aim for the podium,” Rosberg said.
Wolf for less training, but …
Logically, after the failed Friday, the question arises as to whether Formula 1 in general would go with less training. “I like that personally. The less you train, the less data is collected, the greater the variety. So the strongest, but the most adaptable, wins. If that was a suggestion, I would agree,” reveals Toto Wolff.
Other drivers and officials see it similarly. But the Mercedes team boss reminds us that it’s not just about sporting aspects. “Of course, we have to clarify this with the organizers. We also have fans who cannot afford a weekend ticket, who only come on Friday and then they can see the cars,” explains Wolff. You are absolutely right.
Wolff: That’s why Hamilton didn’t get the medium.
The world champion himself said earlier in the PK that he would have liked to start on Medium. However, the team has put in his veto. “We just discussed that in the briefing,” reveals Toto Wolff, explaining: “Clearly the soft is the best starting tire. Lewis now sees it that way too. At the start you lose three or four meters to the middle. And Lewis “All opponents start soft. It was a clear decision. “It makes sense, because especially with the low temperatures, the environment would have been a disadvantage in tomorrow’s start.
Ocon: Take a “leap into the unknown”
That shouldn’t just apply to him. “For us, tomorrow is a leap into the unknown, because today I only drove the softs in practice and qualifying. We will see how the tires behave in the race and how long they last,” explains the Frenchman, who starts from seventh position. becomes. His teammate Ricciardo qualified one position higher. They are both happy with it. The Australian expects an “interesting” race both in the dry and wet. We hope so too, of course.
Leclerc “quite surprised” by P4
Finally a driver who is not dissatisfied! “I’m very satisfied, but also quite surprised by the performance this morning and this afternoon, if I’m honest,” reveals Leclerc, adding: “Mainly because we had assumed we would get into trouble in these cool conditions. But it went quite well. The lap was very good. I am very happy with fourth position. “
“We have some updates this weekend that worked properly,” the Ferrari driver reports, explaining: “We try to make small changes every weekend. It works well at the moment. Every time we use something new, it works.” That is the most important. And it has not been like that in the past. It helps us find a solid foundation in the car. “
Russell: Q2 would have been possible
Somehow it gives the impression that hardly anyone is happy with their ranking today. “I’m a bit disappointed,” said Russell, who will start tomorrow from P17. “I think Q2 would have been possible if we had put it all together,” said the Williams driver, who was only a few hundredths short of reaching Q2.
“It was difficult in these cool conditions. It was difficult to get the tires working. They did quite well in FT3 and the car felt great. But I didn’t have the same feeling in qualifying,” Russell said. His teammate Latifi also thinks he could have made it to Q2 today. Tomorrow he will start from P18, one position behind Russell.
Gasly: Car not in the right window
That can happen, of course, if there is no training on Friday. The Frenchman is “a bit disappointed” with the P12 and reports: “We knew it was going to be a tough weekend. After FT3, I didn’t get the impression that the car was in the right window. We made some small changes to the classification, but it did. ” Ultimately, it was not enough to fight our rivals. “
His teammate Kvyat even finished one position behind. He explains that today they just didn’t have the pace for Q3. “I’m quite happy with my lap because there wasn’t much I could have done today. The difference with Q3 was bigger than normal,” he explains. It was almost half a second, Gasly about four tenths. However, Kwjat recalls that AlphaTauri is usually stronger in the race.
Therefore, the points are still possible tomorrow.
Verstappen and Russell: still clean
What do Verstappen and Russell have in common? The two are the only two drivers who have yet to lose a qualifying match against their teammate in the 2020 season. Both are now leading 11-0. While Latifi was up to 0.248 seconds over Russell at Williams today, Albon was again nearly half a second behind Verstappen. It’s also exciting: For the first time after five races, Norris was ahead of Sainz at McLaren.
The full description of all ranking matches can be found here!
Seidl: updates work “basically”
The team boss shares Sainz’s disappointment and explains to ‘Sky’: “First of all, it’s good for us to be in Q3 with both cars. At the same time, I would have liked to be one, two or three positions ahead. . at least with one car. But I think that’s the performance we have in the car right now. Of course, it was not ideal that we couldn’t test the improvements we had in the car properly. “
“We just would have needed more time to optimize the set-up to get the most out of it,” he explains and reveals regarding the upgrades: “The changes to the front of the vehicle are big changes in the aerodynamic concept. But we are currently looking at it. the wind tunnel that this simply opens up new potential for further development, also for next year. “
“We are not yet seeing the step we expect in the future, because it is a big and complex change and we do not have the test time to optimally coordinate the car with the new parts. But with everything we have in the data” We have seen, the updates are basically working as expected, “said Seidl. At least something.
Q10: Sainz disappointed after qualifying
Pérez is not only dissatisfied. Sainz even finished one position behind at McLaren and will only start from P10 tomorrow. “I am sincerely disappointed,” he admits. They were expecting a bit more from the update this weekend. However, FT3 got off on the wrong foot. He reveals that his teammate Norris was on tour with the previous pack, and ended up in P8. His conclusion: “At the moment we are very far from where we want to be.”
