Saturday: Senna hoped for better for his birthday and LRGP
Bruno Senna did not manage to qualify for Q3 today in Korea and the Brazilian ended up quite far back; he will start tomorrow from the 15th position on the grid. He hoped to do better for his birthday, but he knows he has a good car - as evidenced by Vitaly Petrov's strong 8th place on the grid. The Russian driver hopes to maintain his position tomorrow or even do better to score significant points against the two Force India drivers who are right behind him.
Vitaly Petrov – 7th and 8th
I am thrilled with the efforts made by the team today. This 8th place on the grid is something we should be proud of, and it gives me a good chance to perform well in tomorrow’s race. I was quite surprised by our enthusiasm in Q3 to go back out, but in the end, I didn’t manage to complete a second timed lap. This circuit is quite smooth, and today we had a lot of grip. As a team, we did a great job, and the most important thing is that we didn’t encounter any technical issues for tomorrow.
Bruno Senna – 16th and 15th
« It’s been a tough weekend for me so far and today didn’t go as planned. It’s my worst qualifying performance of the year and I hope it’s the last. These are things that happen – sometimes you can’t get the most out of the car at the right time. Vitaly did a great job so we could see that the car was consistent and had potential for the race. The car is good; I probably haven’t driven enough to be able to push when he does in qualifying. I’m a bit off Vitaly’s time in some corners and that made the difference between staying in Q2 and moving to Q3. It’s not ideal to celebrate my birthday, but tomorrow should be a better day. »
Alan Permane – Track Operations Director
Yes (we experienced mixed fortunes), but it would have been good to see both our cars in Q3. We need to study things to see why Bruno wasn’t on pace, but Vitaly posted a very good result. He managed an excellent lap with already used tires in Q2 to secure a place in Q3, so it looks promising for tomorrow. I am convinced that we can have a good fight with other teams to score new points.
