Qualifying - Japanese GP report: Manor Ferrari

This afternoon’s qualifying session for the 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix didn’t quite go according to plan for the Manor Marussia F1 Team. After two rain-affected Free Practice sessions yesterday, the team had made good headway with this morning’s dry programme and was expecting this progress to translate into a good qualifying performance. As it turned out, Q1 saw two yellow flag periods, for Ericsson and Verstappen respectively, which defined the session. Will was the right side of the flagged zone on his first run, but Alexander was less fortunate and had to abandon his opening timed lap. The second yellow flag compromised both cars and neither driver was able to complete a push lap. With Alexander achieving lap times within 107% during free practice, it was unfortunate that he was unable to show his pace in qualifying .

John Booth, Team Principal

“This morning, we had a very positive FP3 session, in which we managed to collect all the information we needed and couldn’t obtain yesterday because of the rain. Both cars completed long runs with both specifications of tyre, and we also did a performance run in preparation for qualifying. This afternoon, things didn’t go at all the way we expected, for reasons beyond our control. Both cars were affected by the yellow flag during their timed laps, and Alexander was particularly unlucky as both of his timed laps were compromised. Will was in front of the first yellow, so he at least managed to complete one lap, but he could certainly have improved on his second. Looking ahead to the race we’re confident that the progress we made this morning will help us to have a good race tomorrow.”

Will Stevens

“Overall I’m pretty happy with qualifying today, as I’ve had limited running here. It was important to get a lap in early, so I was unaffected by the first yellow flag for Ericsson. I was improving on my second lap, but then the yellow flags came out in sector 2 and I had to slow. Our long runs looked good this morning, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Alexander Rossi

“To have a yellow flag on both my push laps is just the worst luck. I’ve never had a situation like that, so I was pretty shocked and disappointed by what happened today. Obviously I’ve been well within 107% during the weekend and I know the procedures, but even so, it’s not a great feeling. There hasn’t been much dry running so far, so we haven’t had the best preparation for a dry race, but I’m enjoying the track and I know there’s a lot more to come.”