Friday: Crucial Qualifications for Sauber
Better than in Germany, the Saubers still lag behind the Force India and rely on qualifying to hope to outpace their rivals.
Kamui Kobayashi – 11th and 11th
« Even if we seem better than what we did at Nürburgring, I feel it will be difficult to catch up with the Force India, but we want to be ahead of them during qualifying. The balance of my car is not really good yet, but I think we can improve that. The soft tires are the hardest for me to manage so far. I prefer the super soft ones ».
Sergio Perez – 9th and 12th
« I think we have a better rhythm here than at the Nurburgring, and I also believe that the ambient temperature, which should be more significant, will allow us to qualify better because it’s essential for the super soft tires to work at their best. Over long stints, I experience degradation with both types of tires, but with the soft tires, the balance is better compared to the super soft. For me, the soft tires are more consistent than the super soft tires ».
James Key, technical director
« It was quite a productive day. The weather conditions evolved as the day went on. We were expecting rain this afternoon and eventually, it was the opposite. The track temperature stabilized around what will be most relevant compared to what is expected tomorrow and Sunday, so the session was quite useful from that perspective. We worked a lot throughout the day on car setups and found some areas to explore. We have work to do on the second sector to improve the car’s balance. We gathered a lot of data and we just need to keep working hard overnight to make progress ».
