01/11/2024
NEWS STORY
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director: As we expected, it's very tight in the midfield here in Brazil.
In SQ1, there were only three tenths difference from P7 to P15. Both cars had a very good last lap in SQ1 and moved swiftly into SQ2. Unfortunately, Franco's only push lap wasn't clean enough to move into SQ3 as he didn't find the right car and tyre balance. Alex's single push lap just did the trick as he finished 10th just ahead of Hamilton. In SQ3, we didn't get the tyres completely in the right window, finishing P9 for Alex. Our long runs this morning showed good pace but tyre management will be very important tomorrow, however we're confident we can fight for points.
Alex Albon: I'm a little disappointed with P9, as I felt we could've been a bit higher up today. The tyres are so delicate so it's crucial to get the exact window around here. Tyre degradation will be significant tomorrow, and we still need to understand the Soft tyre slightly better, but our race pace seems pretty strong and it should make for an interesting Sprint Race. We're sitting just outside the points, so we'll see what we can do from there.
Franco Colapinto: It was good to get in the car today; my first time driving on the Interlagos circuit here in São Paulo. It was quite a tough afternoon in Sprint Qualifying. In Q1 it was taking the tyres a long time to hit the window and my Q2 wasn't a clean lap, and the times are so incredibly close. Let's see what we can do tomorrow as there's still a lot to play for this weekend. It has been amazing the past couple of days to see all the support I have here and the fans that have travelled to the race creating such a nice atmosphere.
Check out our Friday gallery from Sao Paulo here.