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Edition

Australia
Qualifying report

Abu Dhabi GP: Top 10 quotes after qualifying

Valtteri Bottas claimed his fourth career pole position - his first at the Yas Marina Circuit and fourth of the 2017 season

Top three qualifyers Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 and Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Top three qualifyers Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 and Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Pole position for Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1
Front row for Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG
Top two qualifiers Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team RS17
Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India VJM10
Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India VJM10
Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India VJM10
Felipe Massa, Williams

ClaDriverChassisEngineTimeGap
1 finland Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes Mercedes 1'36.231  
“It's only the fourth pole of my whole career and I had to beat some pretty good qualifiers, so it's a great feeling to start from P1 tomorrow. It was a really good qualifying, clean and smooth. With the changes we made, the car was behaving much better in qualifying than it did in free practice. Run after run, I could always find some time here and there, I really worked on the details. But the weekend is not over yet; we want to finish strong tomorrow as well. We were nearly there in Sao Paulo and now I get a second opportunity. It would mean a lot to end the season on a high. However, no matter how tomorrow goes, it will be nice to head into the winter break knowing that I had the speed to be on pole two races in a row. That's a good feeling and a good basis to start working for 2018.”
2 united_kingdom Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes Mercedes 1'36.403 0.172
“Congratulations to Valtteri, he did a fantastic job in qualifying. It's good to see him performing at this level, particularly at the end of the season which puts him into a great position for next year. For me, practice was great. Then I made some changes in anticipation of the track cooling which I think were not the right ones in hindsight. But it was good to experiment a little which I hadn't really done all year long. However, that's why I struggled a little bit with the balance in qualifying. I think in the end I was up about a tenth and a half out of Turn 1, but then I lost it somewhere else through the rest of the lap. Nonetheless, it was fun to be out there, challenging in the last qualifying of the year. Now we can get on with the race tomorrow. It's a very hard track to overtake, but I will give it everything for sure.”
3 germany Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari Ferrari 1'36.777 0.546
“I think we were missing some speed today in qualifying, but I think tomorrow we can be closer to our competitors, so we’ll see. Especially in Q3, in sector 2, they were very fast, while in the first and third sector we were more or less on the pace. Hopefully tomorrow it can be different: I think during the race we should have a better pace. Winning is always possible, even though here it’s difficult to overtake if your speed is not different to the other cars. So, let’s see what this race can bring and hopefully we can put pressure on our rivals”
4 australia Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull TAG 1'36.959 0.728
"I'm happy with the end of Quali. I'm so happy to have jumped Ferrari and the second row is good. We thought we could get close to Ferrari but as Qualifying went on, it looked like they were too quick. During the first run in Q3 we were slow but I knew we could get a lot more out of the car, we just had to figure it out. We understood the tyre temperature a little better and then it was a much quicker lap. It hasn't been the perfect year of Saturdays for me, so it's nice to finish 2017 with a good one. We were pretty solid all weekend, just not quite on the pace of the top three but tomorrow I think we can have a chance for the podium. I don't think the start will be straightforward, it's the last race of the year and everyone wants to win so there could be some action and hopefully I'm there to be a part of it."
5 finland Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari Ferrari 1'36.985 0.754
“It was not an easy qualifying and fifth position is far from ideal. The car felt good all day, I had good feelings. In Q1 we did few laps and it was very easy, but then it got tricky with the tires. For whatever reason, I struggled to make them work and trust them on a flying lap. In some runs, they were ok, then in another one it was more difficult. It was a bit of a guessing game. I’m sure that tomorrow the race is not going to be easy. The start is the easiest place to overtake, but even after that the race is far from over.”
6 netherlands Max Verstappen  Red Bull TAG 1'37.328 1.097
"It wasn't a great Qualifying session for me today, we have struggled to find a good set-up all weekend and today was no exception. The changes we have tried did not impact the car how I would have liked and then by the time you get to Qualifying it is too late to change anything else. Like I said yesterday, I haven't been able to find a good level of grip here which means I am always fighting with the car and it makes it difficult to drive. The conditions for the race should be similar to tonight so I think it will be a hard race from our side but let's wait and see what we can do. Daniel is in front of Kimi so hopefully that could mean a bit of a fight for us tomorrow and we can avoid a lonely race. I did the best I could with the car, sometimes you have to accept that you are not fast enough, learn from it, come back and try harder next time. I'll do my best so let's see what we can achieve from P6."
7 germany Nico Hulkenberg  Renault Renault 1'38.282 2.051
“We know it’s only qualifying and anything can happen in the race, but we’ve put ourselves in a good position. I had one of my best quali laps this year in Q2 and I was very pleased with that. In Q3 I was starting to struggle a bit more, as the temperatures were dropping off but we see that every year. The long run pace has felt pretty good and I have felt strong in the car so we are as confident as we can be at this stage. We will approach tomorrow as a normal race, but are hoping we can hang on to that seventh place.”
8 mexico Sergio Perez  Force India Mercedes 1'38.374 2.143
“I am quite happy with our result tonight, even though I cannot be totally satisfied after missing seventh place by just a tenth. We were able to clear Q1 with just one lap, but Q2 was slightly more complicated. Nico [Hulkenberg] compromised my warm-up lap: it was something unnecessary and it completely ruined both our laps. Thankfully it didn’t affect our final result and we still made it to Q3. In the final part of qualifying, my first lap wasn’t very good, so I had to deliver on the second attempt. All in all, it’s a good result. Tomorrow should be an interesting race because the middle of the grid is always very close. It will be important to pass Hulkenberg at the start or during the first lap, because overtaking can be a challenge. If we don’t manage to do it, I am confident we can use the strategy to make our way through. The weather will play a big part too – as it gets darker, the air and track get much cooler and there is a strong wind in certain corners. It will be a challenge but we are in a good position and I am keen to finish the season on a high note.”
9 france Esteban Ocon  Force India Mercedes 1'38.397 2.166
“I’m not totally satisfied with our session today because I think we could have been higher up the grid. I think seventh place was realistic, but the traffic didn’t go our way today and there were a few other things that I didn’t’ maximise. It’s always a difficult qualifying session here with the temperatures dropping and you have to work hard to get the tyres in the right operating window. I’m just annoyed I didn’t show the true pace of the car, but it’s only Saturday and the race is what really counts. I want to make a good start, jump ahead of a few cars and end the season with a strong result.”
10 brazil Felipe Massa  Williams Mercedes 1'38.550 2.319
"I’m so happy with the qualifying and with my lap. I just managed to get to Q3 and I got the best out of the car. I’m finishing with my head held high, and showing that I’m at the top of competitiveness. I’m so happy with what I achieved and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race. Some points would be great! "

 

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Edition

Australia