Sauber's Sutil classified 16th for tomorrow's British GP

Qualifying for the British Grand Prix upheld its reputation as drivers, mechanics and engineers were faced with difficulties due to changeable weather conditions. Adrian Sutil made it into Q2, but went off track during his last lap in Q1 and got stuck in the gravel trap. He was classified 16th. Esteban Gutiérrez also reached the second qualifying session, but lost control of his car and hit the guardrail. He finished 14th. However, due to a penalty from the Austrian Grand Prix, he will start from 20th on the grid.

Esteban Gutiérrez (Q2: 1:43.285 min, P20): “We had a very good strategy. I think the conditions were pretty difficult as the weather was very inconsistent all the time. On my last lap I got caught up by a faster car behind. I was trying to push as much as I could. Unfortunately, I lost the car and hit the wall. We were both on our fast lap and I was trying to finish mine as well as possible.”

Adrian Sutil (Q1: 1:42.603 min, classified 16th): “Unfortunately, I made a mistake today. As I went off the track, I did not notice that the preceded corner was very wet. I lost the rear of the car and got stuck in the gravel trap. It is a shame as I was in ninth and therefore had made it into the second qualifying session, but could not participate. The conditions were tricky for all of us. As the car was difficult to drive and as we were on the limit, those mistakes can easily happen.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “The team worked well, and the engineers made the right decisions. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to benefit from that. It’s a pity that one car went off after a good lap, got stuck in the gravel trap and consequently was out of qualifying. The other driver lost control of his car and hit the guardrail. So we lost the chance for a good qualifying result. In situations like this one we have to improve significantly.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Qualifying brought typical Silverstone weather with ever changing conditions. As a result, it was important to be on the right tyres at the right time, which we managed to achieve. Technically, everything went according to plan, the performance of the cars was okay. Unfortunately both drivers went off and we didn’t manage to convert this into a good result. This is very disappointing.”

Sauber F1 Team