Team reaction after qualifying in Hockenheim (part 2)

Sauber Ferrari

After promising runs in the first part of qualifying as well as early in the second part of the session, in the end neither of the team’s drivers made it into the top ten qualifying. Kamui Kobayashi qualified 12th for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, while Pedro de la Rosa was 15th.

Kamui Kobayashi: “I am not happy because I should have gone through into Q3. The car was good and the performance in qualifying confirmed this. But on my second run in Q2 I had traffic and needed to slow down a bit. Obviously this wasn’t good for the tyre temperatures and I had a lack of grip afterwards. However, from 12th on the grid I should still be able to score points tomorrow.“

Pedro de la Rosa: “I was certainly hoping to make it into Q3. Overall I think we have been closer to the top ten than expected. The car was good and it will be the same in the race tomorrow. On my second run in Q2 I pushed too hard and had a couple of big moments. This way I obviously couldn’t improve my lap time.“

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “The positive aspect of today is the fact our car made another step forward with regard to performance, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to compete at such a level. However, it’s disappointing we didn’t make it into Q3.”

James Key, Technical Director: “We came in this morning after working over night on the cars to address some of the issues we found in dry conditions yesterday. Both drivers were happy with the cars this morning, and we looked reasonably competitive. We went to qualifying knowing we had a realistic chance of a getting into Q3. There was a big accident in the first session, and it was good to see Vitantonio Liuzzi walk away from that. Then it was about concentrating on getting the tyres to work. The first outings were reasonable. Kamui was in the top ten straightaway, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the most out of the new tyres on the second run, where we didn’t improve at all. That left us just outside the top ten. Ultimately it was disappointing, but I’m pleased the car has taken a step forward. We should be able to fight for points tomorrow.”

Force India Mercedes

A difficult day for the Force India F1 Team in qualifying, as it could not convert its early running form into a strong starting position for this weekend’s German Grand Prix. Tonio Liuzzi will start from 22nd position after an accident in Q1, while Adrian Sutil qualified in 14th, however will start from 19th as a result of a penalty for changing his gearbox between FP3 and qualifying.

Adrian eased into Q2 with the 12th quickest time of the 20 minute opener, however despite improving on his time, he could not progress through to Q3.

Tonio completed three laps in Q1 but when exiting the final corner he ran wide onto the kerbs and hit a damp patch remaining from the earlier rain. The loss of grip sent him into a spin and unfortunately he speared across the track and into the pit wall, damaging the front of his VJM03. Tonio was uninjured in the accident but will start from a frustrating 22nd position.

Adrian Sutil: Not really such a great day for us! The weekend started so well and in the rain the car was so strong, but it’s not gone right today. This morning I had a problem with the driveshaft and missed the whole session. We also had to change the gearbox as a result of the problem so we knew that we would be facing a tough challenge with the five place penalty we would get. Then in qualifying I didn’t have any grip and the car was sliding around and we were only quick enough for 14th place. All the same it’s only qualifying and there’s a long race tomorrow where anything can happen.With a good strategy we can always go for a good result.

Tonio Liuzzi: I had had a good couple of laps but then I hit a wet patch on the kerb or on the grass that wasn’t visible from the track and it then started the accident. I lost the rear and was pushed out quite strongly across the track and into the wall. I wasn’t hurt, but it’s such a shame as we lost the qualifying and now have to start far down the grid. We can still make up some places as we showed in the last race in Silverstone where I came back to 11th and under a second from the points, so the race pace is very strong - let’s see what we can do.

Otmar Szafnauer, chief operating officer: Obviously we’re disappointed with the session today. We were hoping for more in qualifying but had technical problems with the driveshaft failure on Adrian’s car in FP3, which compromised his performance in qualifying. Tonio then had an accident at the last corner, which eliminated him in Q1. But as we always say there’s no points for qualifying. Our long run pace this weekend on both cars has been strong and both Adrian and Tonio are real fighters who will keep pushing until the flag. They have fought hard in the past and, even after the difficulties today, are exceptionally motivated to do it again here in Hockenheim.

Toro Rosso Ferrari

Jaime Alguersuari: “To be honest I did not expect to be quicker than my team-mate today, as it has been a difficult weekend with not so much testing on a dry track. Therefore, I found it hard to get up to speed in the dry, but in the end, I managed it in qualifying, even if I might have been able to improve by one or two tenths. If it stays like this for the race, who knows what might happen as it is possible that tyre degradation will be a factor that might help me move up the order.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Q1 went well, but I am not really sure what happened in Q2, as I was unable to make the most of the improving track conditions. We will have to see why that was, if it was down to the way we ran the tyres or some other reason to do with the set-up. Therefore I am rather disappointed that things did not go as well as expected. As for tomorrow’s race, there are a couple of places where you can overtake if you have the speed, so let’s wait and see what happens and a lot could depend on the weather. If it is dry, the key element of the strategy will be managing the usage of the soft tyre.”

Giorgio Ascanelli: “After this afternoon’s session, we are looking a bit better than in Silverstone a fortnight ago, however that is mainly due to Liuzzi’s crash – I’m glad he seems okay – rather than due to our own efforts. “

Lotus Cosworth

Qualifying at the German Grand Prix saw Lotus Racing confirm the progress the Anglo / Malaysian team has been making all season, Jarno Trulli finishing 18th, less than a second behind Buemi’s Toro Rosso and closer to the established teams than in any race in the 2010 World Championship. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen was just behind in 19th after beating Glock’s Virgin into 20th place, keeping both Lotus Racing cars at the head of the new team pack and looking strong for tomorrow’s race.

Jarno Trulli: “I’ve had a great weekend so far. I’ve had no troubles with the car and I’ve been able to work on getting the right balance, and being comfortable with how the car feels in all the sessions. You can see from the lap time today just how good it’s been, so I’m really happy, but obviously we always have work to do, and the satisfaction comes from putting in the work and seeing results like the lap today. Tomorrow it’s all about pushing the guys ahead and getting both cars home again, so that’s where the focus is now.”

Heikki Kovalainen: “It’s been quite a difficult weekend for me so far - it seems to be a bit harder than normal and I’m not sure why. The balance was ok today but the grip levels felt poor and I wasn’t able to get the best out of the tyres on either run. It felt like I was getting more out of them on the third lap each time, so we need to analyse that and see what’s behind it. Despite this we’re still in a good position. Jarno did a great lap and I got ahead of Glock pretty comfortably, so there’s everything to fight for tomorrow.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “Mixed feelings today. A very good job from Jarno who was pretty happy with the balance of his car, but disappointing for Heikki who lost 3/10ths in a straight line to Jarno and we’ll have to look at the reasons for that. Overall he hasn’t been happy with the balance all weekend and I think the team didn’t do a good enough job on his car before qualifying. However, on the positive side we finished the best of the new teams, and we’re looking to take this form into the race tomorrow with a strong double finish.”

Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s very exciting to see us finish 18th and 19th, and we’ll be going up another position on the grid due to Sutil’s penalty. I’m sorry for Heikki, but very happy for Jarno and I’m sure Heikki will put in a very strong performance tomorrow – we’re firmly ahead of the new teams and closer than ever to those ahead, so it’s a good day!”

Virgin Racing Cosworth

After such a promising start to the weekend, with a strong performance in both practice sessions yesterday, it all went wrong for Virgin Racing ahead of this afternoon’s Qualifying session. Both cars suffered problems at almost exactly the same time, with first Timo and then Lucas reporting gearbox issues shortly before the end of third practice. A gearbox change was deemed necessary on Timo’s car, but Lucas’ problem was diagnosed to be electrical, with an alternator being determined as the culprit. Both cars had been quick, the drivers happy with both the set-up and the new parts fitted overnight.

On Lucas’ out-lap for qualifying, he reported a problem with gear selection and was called in. A change of steering wheel made no difference and it was game over for the Brazilian; he was unable to post a time for the session. The changes to Timo’s car were completed just as the green light came on for the session and he was just starting his first flying lap when he was forced to avoid the flying wheel resulting from Liuzzi’s accident. After the red flag, he set a time faster than the other new teams, but during the tyre change to fit the final set of options, a small amount of fluid was spotted on a brake caliper and the decision was made to investigate further rather than send him out again. Timo set the 20th fastest time, however both drivers will receive a gearbox change penalty.

Timo Glock, Race Driver: “A very disappointing day after the promising start we made to the weekend yesterday. The gearbox problem we experienced this morning was very frustrating because it cost us the end of the session. The guys did a fantastic job, working through the break to get the car ready in time for Qualifying, but then after the first run we had a problem with the rear brakes and it was too risky to go out again. After the first set of tyres we were in front of Lotus but we couldn’t continue and therefore run the next set of options, so we don’t know how it could have panned out – we could have split the Lotus cars or even been ahead of them. It’s just very disappointing.”

Lucas di Grassi, Race Driver: “It has been a very frustrating day for me and the team because we were looking so good in Free Practice and I think we could have done a really good job in Qualifying. But we had the alternator problem late in the session this morning and then it was clear on my Qualifying out-lap that there was a gearbox problem which could not be fixed in the time we had. We will do the best we can tomorrow in the hope that we can finish as the best of the new teams.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director: “We are all extremely disappointed by today’s results. After a few encouraging laps on the drying track this morning, Lucas experienced an engine alternator failure and oil leak which caused the gearbox control system to temporarily lose control of the gearshift with the sudden electrical voltage drop. It was unclear at the time whether this had caused damage to the gearbox, and after successful tests in the garage before qualifying, we elected to try it rather than change the gearbox and take a grid penalty. Sadly, a gearbox problem quickly became apparent when he tried his first qualifying run and we’ll have to change his gearbox tonight. Timo’s hopes of a good showing in front of his home crowd were thwarted by a different gearbox problem in free practice which stopped him doing any meaningful running this morning and forced us to change his gearbox before qualifying. His first proper run of the day was a great effort, but a small brake caliper hose fitting leak was spotted as his final set of tyres were being fitted, and we simply couldn’t risk a final run. I guess the most annoying thing was that we have been unable to demonstrate the clear performance progress we have continued to make but hopefully we’ll get an opportunity to do this tomorrow.”

HRT F1 Cosworth

Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team completed qualifying for the German Grand Prix today. Both drivers of the Spanish team were able to achieve their best result in a qualifying session this season and outpace another team’s car. Bruno Senna will start tomorrow’s race in 20th position after clocking a best lap time of 1.18.592 and Sakon Yamamoto qualified 22nd (1.19.844). Both drivers were able to run faster than in the morning session and keep on reducing the difference with the other teams. The next step is to build on the last two-car finish from Silverstone with a solid race.

Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “Today we are happy with the result both drivers achieved in both sessions. Bruno Senna showed his best qualifying performance this season. Sakon Yamamoto learnt a lot from yesterday’s practices and could improve his performance. Unfortunately, he had a shifting problem which is going to be investigated. We could catch up with the other new teams and we are confident to race the other teams tomorrow.”

Sakon Yamamoto: “It was my second qualifying in a row after Silverstone and here we could improve a lot compared to the last weekend. Today it was a bit disappointing as we had a shifting problem on my fastest lap, which needs to be investigated for tomorrow. During the race, the weather conditions will be different and I’m going to do my best and I hope to finish the race again.”

Bruno Senna: “It feels like a really good qualifying for us and we have been closer to our competitors than expected. My lap was almost perfect as I could put all the sectors together. I think it was one of my best laps in qualifying this year, so I’m fairly happy. It was a good effort from the team and we will see how it goes tomorrow.”