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Qualifying report

Top 10 drivers quotes from qualifying at Silvestone

Cool temperatures for qualifying after a damp start to the day

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

XPB Images

Qualifying top three in parc ferme (L to R): Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, third; Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, pole position; Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, second
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-31
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-31
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12
Valtteri Bottas, Williams
Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12
Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW38
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H
(L to R): Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari with Diego Ioverno, Ferrari Operations Director and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12
Fernando Alonso, McLaren
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates his pole position in parc ferme
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

P1 – 1m 29.287s – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG Petronas): "Firstly, I want to say how grateful I am for all the amazing fans that we have this weekend. Right from Thursday through to today, it's been the biggest crowd I think I've ever seen here. The wave of energy they send is just mesmerising, so a big thank you to everyone out there. It wasn't the cleanest qualifying session. We had great pace all the way through - but I ran a bit wide on my first Q3 lap and had that time taken away. I just touched the kerb and it really pulled me out there. I didn't even feel like I was going to be running wide until the car bottomed out and I just bounced outside the line, so then there was a lot of pressure on my final lap.

I was just sitting there in the garage thinking "I can't let these guys down". The second lap didn't feel quite as good but I was a bit more cautious - making sure I got the lap on the board. I'm grateful that I managed it and grateful to the team too for all their hard work in giving us the performance we have this weekend. The fans give me more than enough motivation. Tomorrow will be a tough race, as always, and it's important we do our due diligence tonight and tomorrow morning to make sure we're on top of tyres, strategy and so on. But my long run pace yesterday was strong and I feel like I've got the car in a good place underneath me in terms of balance for the race. I can't wait to see everyone out there again tomorrow!"

P2 – 1m 29.606s – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas): "The team has given us an incredible car. It really was a pleasure to drive out there today - especially through these spectacular high-speed corners where it's just awesome. It's like the car is on rails, which is just what you want as a driver, so a big thank you to everyone for that. It wasn't my day out there today - but congratulations to Lewis, who did an awesome job. Tomorrow is the day and it's all to play for and it will be a great battle between Lewis and me. There are some chances at the start and it will be interesting how the tyre degradation will influence the strategy. Recently I've had good starts, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll definitely still be pushing for the win."

P3 – 1m 30.313s Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): “I think the whole weekend we have been pretty strong and that resulted in a really good Qualifying, the best of my F1 career to date and definitely the best we could do today. Sometimes I have been very unlucky in Qualifying but today has gone well and I was able to show my potential. From now on I will just focus on that and try to keep it up. I’m not focussing on trying to beat my team mate, the points come from the race so that is the important part for me. Silverstone is a great track and I always enjoy driving here. Going through Maggots and Becketts the car is fantastic, no oversteer, no understeer; it feels so nice going through those corners. The car has been performing brilliantly all weekend so I’m looking forward to the race. Hopefully we can maintain this position, it will be important to try and keep up and also keep fighting behind. If it rains we could be a lot closer to Mercedes but if not then we’ll try to just keep position and we will be very happy with that.”

P4 – 1m 30.618s – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing): “As a team result it was definitely important to get the second row lock-out. That was our target and we got that so I think we look good for tomorrow. It’s cool to have both of us in front of the Ferraris. I knew this would be a pretty big fight with them here and we managed to at least fight the Qualifying battle so we’ll try and keep them behind us in the race tomorrow. Obviously, I would have preferred third rather than being fourth but that’s how it is today and tomorrow we’ll aim to go better and as good as we can. It’s going to be cooler tomorrow and you never know what’s going to happen, but I think we’re pretty confident where we sit. The two Mercedes will probably fight at the front and behind them it should be a good battle. For sure Ferrari will give us a bit of a run for our money, so there is definitely that third spot up for grabs. You’ll definitely see a race tomorrow.”

P5 – 1m 30.881s – Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari): "Fifth and sixth is not what we want, we are not happy with where we finished today, but this is the best we could achieve. We know our limits on this track and where we struggle, the circuit layout and the conditions don't make it very easy for us and we are a bit stuck with the things we can do. This afternoon the car felt the best it has been in the whole weekend, but obviously we were not fast enough. In Q2 I made it very difficult for myself, I spun at the start of my run with the first new set, and then locked the front wheel on the next one. At my last attempt I was able to make it through to Q3, but these things shouldn't happen. Race conditions are always different and can change a lot here, usually we are stronger in the race and hopefully tomorrow will be the same. We'll try to make a good start, make the tires work and take the right decisions."

P6 – 1m 31.490s – Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari): "I'm not happy with my lap, the car was better than this morning. i was in a very good lap but i lost the car at stowe in the first run, trying a bit too hard, then in the second one i went wide in turn 1 and lost the car from there. on this track it seems we are a bit behind, i think we have done good steps in the past, but probably not enough, also compared to other people, so i think there's a lot of catching up for us to do. we need to make the car quicker, to put more downforce in it, make it more efficient at the same time, and add a bit of power. replacing the gearbox is something we have to accept, and we did accept it going into the session. it's not something that is in your head when you start a race, i look forward for a good one tomorrow, the pace is there, we don't belong where we start the race, and that's why i'm quite sure we can make good progress. i hope for a good start, a good first lap and then we'll see. maybe we'll have some rain, anyway we need to keep our head down, keep calm and just go racing and enjoy."

P7 – 1m 31.557s – Valtteri Bottas (Williams Martini Racing): "I felt like I got everything out of the car today, which is always a nice feeling as a driver. I was hoping we could be closer to the front-runners. There is a little bit of a gap which we are working flat out for, so the thing to do now is to focus on the race. It’s a new day tomorrow and weather may play a part in the race, so if we can get our tyres to work better than in Austria, I’m sure we can have a good strategy for a good race."

P8 – 1m 31.989s – Carlos Sainz Jr. (Scuderia Toro Rosso): "I’m extremely happy with today’s qualifying result, especially after having had quite a tough Friday yesterday. We stayed until late last night to analyse all the data, we made a few changes on the car and today I felt very comfortable – we found half a second of performance that gave us the opportunity to fight for Q3. It’s incredible how tight the midfield is, but I did a good lap, managed to get that extra tenth and be the top car of the midfield teams. To start from P7 tomorrow is a great achievement for the whole team and I like to thank everyone for their constant hard work. We definitely needed a good qualifying after three comebacks in the last races! Tomorrow we start in a very good position, on the clean side of the grid, and hopefully we can keep going forward - it will be a tricky race for us as the cars around us have better pace, but we will definitely try to beat our competitors and fight for as many points as possible.”

P9 – 1m 32.172s – Nico Hülkenberg (Sahara Force India): “It looks like I will be starting from P8 and that’s pretty much where we expected to be. It was very tight with McLaren and Toro Rosso in that session and the margins were very small. Unfortunately my final lap in Q3 was deleted because I ran a little bit wide through Copse corner and couldn’t keep the car inside the track limits. Without that, I would have been a place higher up. I think the stewards are correct to insist on these track limits and it’s something we discussed yesterday in the drivers’ meeting, so you have to accept the penalty. Looking ahead to the race, there’s talk of showers once again, and to be honest I don’t mind if we get some rain because it would mix things up. Whatever happens, I just want to have a strong race and bring home some good points.”

P10 – 1m 32.343s – Fernando Alonso (McLaren Honda): "This weekend has been positive for us so far. We’re still missing a little bit of speed along the straights, but we can fortunately compensate for that through the long corners around here. So I think we’re in a position where we could score points tomorrow. In qualifying, we ultimately didn’t have the speed to climb any higher in Q3; but starting ninth, following Sebastian’s [Vettel] penalty, is a good place for us, particularly after two races with reliability issues. There’s wet weather forecast for tomorrow, and some drops of rain in the middle of the race would make it more fun for me, so I think we’re ready for anything that comes our way. I’d love to see two McLaren-Hondas in the points tomorrow.”

 

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