15/04/2017
NEWS STORY
Daniil Kvyat: "It was another very tight qualifying session and we came very close to getting into Q3 - unfortunately I made a mistake and went off at the last corner during my fastest Q2 lap. I'm really sorry for all the guys, they would have deserved to be in the top 10. Nevertheless, the car is capable of being up there consistently, which is very pleasing. We managed to do quite a good step forward from yesterday to today and I was feeling good in the car. With a clean lap, we would've made it into Q3; we have a fast car. Tomorrow we get to start from P11, which is good from a strategic point of view as we can choose what tyres to start the race on - we should be able to fight for some points from there tomorrow."
Carlos Sainz: "How frustrating and annoying! We lost a great chance today of getting into Q3 - I'd say the top 8 was possible. I'm disappointed, as I was doing a great Quali. We had got up to speed very quickly after yesterday's problems and I was coming very fast, but another reliability issue puts us only P16 on the grid. The only positive is that the race is tomorrow and we can still fight for something. I think the car has a lot of potential here and it feels faster than ever since Australia, so it's a real shame that I had to stop the car in Q1. Anyway, once I cool down I will get over this, stop being upset about the situation and already start thinking about the race - I will push hard even if I will go a bit into the unknown after missing so much track time; there will be a lot of improvisation, but we've done that before and we've come along pretty well, so I'm positive that tomorrow can end up being a good day."
James Key (Technical Director): "A disappointing qualifying session for us. We knew coming here that, out of the first four flyaway races, this one would be the trickiest for our car, but we did hope to get both cars into Q3. Q1 started smoothly and our pace seemed to be as we hoped it would be, we went out twice as a precaution, as the track evolution in Q1 was very high. This allowed Daniil to get through without any issues,l however, unfortunately for Carlos, his Power Unit packed-up on his second run and he had to stop the car at the last corner, meaning he lost out on getting through to Q2. It's very disappointing for the team, and of course for him, as he was on a strong lap with the sort of pace that we needed to see to ultimately challenge for a top 10 place. We now need to recover as best as we can from this situation. We have plenty of new tyres, so we will do whatever we can to make the best out of his race tomorrow. Regarding Daniil, he was going for a Q3 position, which was an extremely tight competition between us and many of the cars around us. He was looking good to go through but sadly he just missed out on the last corner, where he just went wide and that knocked out a bit of lap time - just enough to put him in P11. So, sadly, no cars through to Q3, but P11 has its advantages with tyre choice, so it's a case of recovery for the team tomorrow and we will give it our best shot. Finally, I'd like to congratulate Valtteri for his first pole position in Formula 1 - well deserved!"
Check out our Saturday gallery from Bahrain, here.