Team reaction after qualifying in Monaco (part 2)

Force India Mercedes

The Force India F1 Team will start tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix with both cars inside the top 12. Tonio Liuzzi put in his best qualifying showing since the Malaysian Grand Prix to put the VJM03 tenth, while Adrian Sutil had a more difficult session and will start 12th.

Both drivers easily made the cut for Q2 as they anticipated traffic and stayed out for just one long run each. Tonio posted the sixth quickest time of the opening segment, while Adrian was seventh fastest. In Q2, Tonio put together the eighth best lap, however Adrian was unlucky to be caught in traffic and then have his tyre preparation for his potential fastest lap ruined with yellow flags. In Q3 Tonio had a relatively smooth run to secure his fourth top 13 start of the season and his joint-best Saturday performance since Sepang.

Adrian Sutil: Today was a difficult session as the car was very fast but I just couldn’t manage to get any lap in Q2. There was a lot of traffic and then the Renault crash in turn one came just at the wrong time and hit me quite badly. I’m quite disappointed as when I did get some clear air my tyres were cold and the lap I did was not enough. We just missed getting to Q3 but it should still be a good race. P12 is right in the middle of the field and I like the circuit, the car feels good and I’m going to try my best to get some points tomorrow. You never know what can happen here.

Tonio Liuzzi: It’s been a good day for us, Q3 was definitely the target and we got it, which is really great after the last two difficult qualifying sessions. I think we could even have got P9 as I was going quicker on the last lap but just locked up into the chicane and lost a little bit. But I love Monaco - it’s such a special event - and it’s good to start so high up. Being in the top 10 puts us in a strong position for tomorrow’s race as overtaking is so difficult to do here. We are positive we can fight for points this race, which is the most important for the team at this point in the season.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: Tonio had a very strong qualifying and really deserved to be in the top 10. He has had some issues with traffic in the past but today he and the team negotiated it well and he was able to get the most out of the car. Adrian was not so lucky with the traffic however P12 in Monaco is still quite a promising position to start the race from. We could see a double points finish from where we are, this has got to be the aim, so we’ll put everything into making it happen.

Sauber Ferrari

Pedro de la Rosa: “Fifteenth doesn’t sound fantastic, but actually I’m satisfied of what we did. We have changed the car a lot since the first practice and the set-up and balance are as good as possible. Qualifying here was never meant to be an easy one for us. We still struggle in the low speed corners, but we did a good in qualifying. I gave everything I have and the team did very well. We now have to concentrate on the race and finish it.”

Kamui Kobayashi: “It is really hard for us, and probably our hardest weekend of the season. Monaco is exceptional. I expect us to perform a lot better in Istanbul. I find it tough here. However, on this circuit anything can happen in the race and I will try my hardest to make the most of any chance I might get.”

James Key, Technical Director: “Ultimately a bit disappointing where we are after Barcelona, but this was always going to be a more difficult circuit for us. The competition was very, very close, within a few tenths, and I think that the car had those extra tenths in it. But with the traffic and all the difficulties in qualifying, unfortunately on the last run we just couldn’t quite put the sectors together to be closer to the top ten. It’s very tight, and we have to keep it as clean as possible tomorrow, bring the cars home and make the best of our position.”

Toro Rosso Ferrari

Sebastien Buemi: “I am a little bit disappointed, because I had hoped to do a bit better, maybe getting into Q3, based on what I had done in this morning’s practice. So, if you don’t get the maximum out of the car, you cannot be satisfied. I did not have too much trouble with traffic, but I don’t think we managed well the situation regarding the change of temperature between the morning and the afternoon, which meant the tyres were working a bit differently. My aim tomorrow will be to get into the points, which means getting ahead of at least three cars. It’s a very long race here, so before doing that, the most important element will be to make sure we get to the finish. On the positive side, our pace over a long run has been good so far this weekend.”

Jaime Alguersuari: “I can be satisfied with the fact that I tried my best, but I’m not happy about how much traffic I met on every lap, especially on the last run, when I really had to back off in the last two corners, which means my day ended in Q2. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race, which will be very long and to a certain extent on this very special track, my main aim will be to finish, as that will give me plenty of experience for next year.”

Giorgio Ascanelli: “There’s not much to say after today’s qualifying. I would not describe it as disappointing, because when all is said and done, this is Monaco which sets its own challenge. In Jaime’s case, it was his first time here in a Formula 1 car and he struggled a bit and Sebastien’s result shows pretty much where we are. We did not get it completely right, but then nobody really does here and we had our share of traffic and mistakes, but it was not a major drama."

Lotus Cosworth

Lotus Racing put on a very strong show in Monaco today, in both the final practice, and the afternoon’s qualifying session, closing the gap to the established teams still further, and finishing Q3 less than one second behind Kamui Kobayashi’s Williams. The day started well with Heikki finishing final practice under three seconds from the leading cars, despite not running the option tyres due to a gearbox issue that curtailed his final run. At the end of qualifying the team made good on the performance it showed in the morning, Heikki Kovalainen finishing 18th and Jarno Trulli 19th, firmly at the head of the new teams on track.

Heikki Kovalainen: "The first run was very good so on the second run I decided to go for it, take some risks and see what happened. The gap to the next car was about 0.9 so I thought if I really nailed a lap we might break into Q2, but to be really honest it was a bit out of control and it was just going over the edge and it became untidy. In the end I was able to put myself ahead of all the other new teams so I think that’s fine."

Jarno Trulli: "It was a bit difficult out there today as I’d lost quite a lot of track time yesterday, which meant my last setup change was right before qualifying. Despite that, I did my best out there and we are much closer than a lot of people expected to the cars ahead. We have also shown a good improvement from where we started the season, so I’m reasonably happy with where we are."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A good day out there for us. We took another step forward in performance terms, showing in final practice and in qualifying that the upgrades we brought to the last race, combined with a good engine package, continue to help us close the gap to the teams ahead, this time to under three seconds. In qualifying I think we did as well as we could have hoped for - Heikki put in a very strong lap early on, and Jarno did the same at the end of the session to take us further away from the other new teams, so I’m very pleased."

Tony Fernandes: "I’m very happy, and I know I keep saying that after every qualifying session. Today we again finished best of the new teams but there was a real drive from Heikki and Jarno to try and get into Q2. In the past few races there’s been an inevitability that we’re not going to get there, but today there was a real belief that we had a chance, which caused Heikki to push really hard. He spun, but that showed that he was pushing. So it’s been good today - to be 2.3 seconds away from the best time in Q1 is something we should all be proud about. It’s also important that the whole team is very pumped up, they feel like we’re making progress every race and after six races morale is very high.

"Looking forward to tomorrow, anything can happen here - obviously from where we’re starting we need to make up seven places to get a point, and that’s quite a hard task, but who knows, we may be able to spring a surprise. The drivers are very pumped up, we’re learning a lot about the car, and after six races we are clearly moving forward and closer to the pack. Well done to Heikki, Jarno and the whole team."

Virgin Racing Cosworth

After a week full of racing on the streets of Monte Carlo, the final countdown to the Monaco Grand Prix got underway this afternoon as the drivers entered the decisive Qualifying hour.

The weather conditions on the streets of the Principality were dry and sunny in contrast to the forecast. In Free Practice 3 this morning, spirits were dampened when Timo Glock’s VR-01 ground to a halt after only three laps. Lucas di Grassi was on good form though, continually improving his times and finishing 21st in the session.

In Qualifying, both cars performed reliably and also managed to run faster than in the morning’s session. Traffic, as always at Monaco, was an issue as drivers looked to find space, but in their second runs both Timo and Lucas picked slots that enabled them to set good lap times.

Timo Glock, Race Driver: “It is quite frustrating that I was only able to complete three laps in this morning’s Free Practice session, because it meant that I had to go into Qualifying blind. So I was quite surprised about how close we were with Lotus but then I felt my lap was really spot-on, with the car almost kissing the Armco in places to get the best time possible. I’m pleased with my time and happy with the job I’ve done today. As for the rest of the weekend, only some of that is in my hands now because in Monaco you never know what might happen. I’m optimistic for the race as our car looks better on heavy fuel, so we have to think about what we can do through the strategy and make the most of every opportunity. I think it’s worth having a gamble here. We have Chris Ferguson, the professional poker player, with us for the race, so I might ask him which way we should roll the dice!”

Lucas di Grassi, Race Driver: “In Free Practice this morning I had another good session. The car was reliable and performed well – we had no issues at all. In Qualifying, I expected to do a better time but the car felt different at the rear end, so we’ll have a good look at the data tonight and make sure everything is good for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. Spain was my last race with fuel-saving techniques. This is a track where I will be able to push very hard without that issue and then I get the new car for Turkey and the rest of the season. I’m expecting a better race for myself and the team in the Monaco Grand Prix.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director: “Overall, an encouraging day. Lucas had a good trouble-free morning session whilst Timo was put on the back foot by a steering rack leak which stopped him on-track and lost him the whole session, which at Monaco is very difficult to recover from. Nevertheless, both Lucas and Timo did a good job in Qualifying and despite Timo’s lost time, it was very encouraging to again measure the downforce gains that the new parts fitted to Timo’s car yesterday which gave the expected boost in aerodynamic performance. There is now a substantial difference in performance between the old and new cars and I’m looking forward to Lucas getting that spec the next race in Istanbul, as the data clearly shows he would have been faster than he was today with the new car. The next step is to build on the two-car finish from Barcelona again tomorrow with a solid and reliable race.”

HRT F1 Cosworth

HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing today completed qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, the sixth qualifying session of the Spanish team’s first F1 season.
Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna kept their cars out of trouble in the notoriously difficult and unforgiving streets of Monaco clocking best times of 1.19.559 and 1.18.509 respectively.

In the morning third practice session, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna were able to fulfil their entire program and drove 46 laps. Chandhok was the first out onto the circuit this afternoon. The drivers will start from 22nd position for Bruno Senna and 23rd position for Karun Chandhok ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

Dr Colin Kolles: "Before the third session, we changed some parts and the gearbox on Bruno Senna’s car and we could see clear improvements that reduced the difference to the leading time. In qualifying, times improved from the morning session. Overall, to avoid the walls and to bring the car home in one piece to qualify in Monaco is one of the toughest exercises for a driver and I am pleased with our result."

Karun Chandhok: "I am mystified by the lack of pace. It is a bit confusing considering our relative pace in practice both today and on Thursday. I will sit with my engineers tonight and try to understand why we are losing so much time. They are now looking at the differential to try and understand the time deficit to the other cars. We have a 78 lap race tomorrow, so a really long one and we will do the best we can."

Bruno Senna: " Today was a good day. For a while I have been struggling with a lack of performance in high speed corners and I would like to thank the team for working tirelessly to analyse and trace that issue. With some new parts for today my car came back to life and I could drive more naturally with confidence again in qualifying. We are working hard with what we’re have and I am hopeful of a brighter future."