Saturday: McLaren expected the Red Bull performance
Slightly edged out by Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton still feels satisfied with his lap and hopes to put pressure on the German at the first corner. Jenson Button, on the other hand, experienced balance issues and wasn't able to fully defend his chances.
Lewis Hamilton – 4th and 2nd
« I am very happy with the way the qualifying went and the work the team has done so far. I have placed the car on the front row at every race this season, and I feel this has been one of my best performances in qualifying so far. My two laps in Q3 were very good, and I feel like I got the most out of the car. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow: both Red Bulls will be very hard to beat in the race, but we’re less than a tenth behind in race pace. The start could be key: we’ve had good starts this season, so I hope we can challenge Seb in the first corner. This season looks very interesting: anyone can win at the moment. »
Jenson Button – 6th and 4th
The fourth place isn’t really what I was hoping for, but it’s not too bad. It’s always a horrible feeling when, in your last lap in Q3, the balance isn’t there when you need it. I couldn’t get the best out of the car, so I came back to the pits to save the tires. The car is definitely better than yesterday: we made some improvements overnight. We expected the Red Bulls to be very fast in qualifying, so being close to them is positive. A nice surprise is that we are ahead of Nico who was on pole a week ago. A good start tomorrow will be very important: Lewis and I will start from the dirty side of the track, which will make things more difficult. Tire management will be crucial too. I’m looking forward to taking on this challenge.
