What the teams said – Qualifying in Belgium

Mercedes

After topping FP2 yesterday, Antonelli did the same thing in FP3 on Saturday to enter Qualifying as the favourite for pole. But he had to work hard in the end for his sixth pole of the season, with Norris and Verstappen both pushing him close. The Italian nailed his final lap in Q3 to beat the field by a mighty three tenths of a second. Russell arguably had to work even harder for P4 after struggling for pace once again, especially down the straights. He was flirting with the fourth row for much of the session, but pulled a big lap out of the bag late on to secure fourth – which becomes P3 when Norris’ grid penalty is applied.

Kimi Antonelli, 1st, 1:44.361

"It's great to be on pole position, especially at a track where I struggled last year. Q1 was quite tricky with the changing wind conditions, but we kept making progress throughout the session. The car felt really strong in Q3, and I was happy with my final lap as I managed to put everything together.

"Pole on Saturday is a great result, but the points are scored tomorrow. A good start will be crucial, especially with the long run to Turn 5, so our focus is on finishing the job in the race. The team has done a tremendous job overnight to improve the car, and I have confidence in the package we have. Tyre degradation is expected to be high, so we'll analyse everything carefully this evening to make sure we're in the best possible position for the Grand Prix."

George Russell, 4th, 1:44.869

"I felt satisfied with my last lap in Q3 today and felt like it might have been good enough for the front row. I’ve been struggling for the last couple of races with my pace and we’re all working hard to try and find a solution. There are several factors that could be at play, but I’ve focused on my driving style this weekend to see if that helps to improve things. There were some encouraging signs but it’s clear that our deployment wasn’t as we expected here too. As a team, we are continuing to investigate all the possible options to understand how we eliminate that deficit.

"The positive news is that we still have a solid starting position in P3 and, as Kimi showed by taking pole position, the car is quick. Anything can happen here at Spa and usually does so I hope we can have a good race tomorrow. I’ll be fighting hard and giving it my all."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"At the beginning of Q3 we hadn’t quite managed to put ours lap together. We were overheating the tyres too much and as always with these cars, there’s so much to manage. Once we were able to get the tyres into a better window though, both drivers were able to put in good laps. For Kimi that was enough to take pole position and for George P4, which becomes P3 on tomorrow’s grid.

"The past two weekends have been tricky for George. As a team, we are looking into where his losses are coming from; there is a lot for us to look at and investigate as we are seeing a deficit, particularly on the run to the final chicane here, that we can’t currently explain. We saw something similar at Silverstone which we thought was down to driving style, but George has worked diligently this weekend on that, and it hasn’t resolved the issue.

"While pole position and P3 are great places to start from, the long run down the Kemmel Straight usually means there is plenty of overtaking on the opening lap. Our aim will be to get away cleanly, show good pace maximise points for the team."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Well done to Kimi, George and the team on another pole position and P3, which gives us a great chance of a good result tomorrow. It’s a good outcome after what has not been a particularly straightforward day or weekend so far.

"Kimi's first run in FP3 was good, but when he pushed a bit harder in the final run, the rear tyres dropped away. George started the session a little off the pace but his final lap on the new Soft tyre was solid; there was a little more time to find in a couple of corners but also some on the deployment in the run to the final chicane.

"Both drivers were reasonably happy with the balance going into qualifying, so we made only minor changes to the set-up. Our first laps with both were not great; the track was a little warmer and we were losing a bit of rear grip. We were able to get on top of that for Q2 onwards though.

"Unfortunately, George continued to suffer from poor deployment into the final chicane which ultimately cost him a position on the grid tomorrow; P3 is a strong effort considering that. We're investigating what's causing this as a priority as there is a clear loss that we cannot explain by driving style. Kimi meanwhile put together a nice sequence of new tyre runs; he was finding time with each set and put together a very impressive lap on the final run to secure pole.

"This is a track where the long straights will make overtaking relatively easy, so race pace is going to be vital. The key to unlocking that is looking after the tyres well. We don't have as much long run data as we'd like but normally, we are slightly stronger on Sunday, so hopefully that trend will continue and we can secure a good result for the team."

Red Bull

With Hadjar set for a back of the field start, the Frenchman’s main job was to make it to Q3 and provide a tow for his team mate. That is exactly what he did, twice, and it made a big difference. Verstappen grabbed second, powerless to stop Antonelli powering to yet another pole. But the Dutchman admitted that P2 might have been P6 without the tow, paying credit to his team mate afterwards.

Max Verstappen, 2nd, 1;44.678

“I think we really executed well as a Team today, and we're happy to be starting on the front row. The whole weekend has been positive: the car is in a good window, and the balance is decent as well. We have just been lacking a bit of straight-line speed compared to the other teams, but we have been able to maximise the potential of the car. Of course, Isack helped me out in Q3 with the tow in the final sector. A big thank you to him, as it is one of the main reasons why I'm sitting here in P2 for tomorrow's race. We gained around three tenths of lap time, so without it we likely would have qualified around P6, given how close the gap to the others was. Tomorrow will be more about looking in the mirrors and defending the cars around us, so hopefully it will be an interesting race.” 

Isack Hadjar, 10th, No time set in Q3

"Our mission was clear today, and we executed it, so we can be happy with the day's work. I knew I had to get into Q3, and we managed that quite comfortably despite having limited one-lap pace as the car was set up for the race. Max might have been up there, but I was happy to do the job for him and the Team. It’s a little difficult to give a tow with these regulations, not knowing how the engine would behave as you have to manage the deployment differently, but we timed it well. Tomorrow, I hope I can work my way up the grid, stay patient, and get back into the points.” 

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“Max and Isack have been on the pace from the moment they went out on track yesterday and that allowed us to progress well throughout the weekend. Not everything is perfect with our package, but we are now talking about the final few tenths to ultimate pace and the discussion is no longer about a bigger gap. That is a credit to everyone back at the factory and we will focus on reducing the gap even further.  

“We knew coming here that we would have a penalty with Isack and that he would be starting from the back of the grid, so, from early in the weekend, the plan was to make the most out of this situation and to get Isack to also help Max throughout Qualifying with slip stream. He and the Team executed this to perfection and that has certainly helped getting Max on the front row. We have been a long way off the straight-line performance Mercedes has shown this weekend and the tow certainly helped reducing that gap.  

“Looking ahead to the race, Kimi looks untouchable but there is going to be a great battle behind him for the podium and we will fight to be in that mix. As for Isack, his performance has been extremely strong all weekend again. It’s frustrating to have him starting from the back but we know he has the pace and the race craft to fight his way back through the field.” 

McLaren

Norris was rapid throughout practice, and carried that form right into Qualifying. He was fastest in Q1 and looked in the battle for ‘pole’ – an accolade he could never have achieved thanks to his grid drop. In the end he had to settle for third, which becomes a 13th place starting slot for tomorrow. But such is his pace, you would not bet against the reigning World Champion climbing back through the field.

As for Piastri, he could not match his team mate all day and dipped a wheel in the gravel on his first Q3 run. He will start sixth tomorrow, behind the two Ferrari cars who will be his first battle.

Lando Norris, 3rd, 1:44.801

“I am very happy to have qualified P3 today. We had a pretty amazing start to Q3, we extracted absolutely everything from the car and were able to put it all together. Unfortunately, the 10-place penalty means we won’t be starting there, but it’s nice to see that we are moving in the right direction and it’s encouraging for the future when we are able to bring bigger upgrades.

“Mercedes on Pole isn’t a surprise, so congratulations to Kimi Antonelli. We can still take positives though - we are clearly quicker than quite a few of the other cars in front of us on the grid, so we’re hoping to make some overtakes and hopefully get back in the race closer to the front of the grid. We will see what we can do.”

Oscar Piastri, 7th, 1:45.016

“It was a trickier day for us. We have struggled to find the right balance with the car and extract the maximum lap time. Our final lap in Q3 was a step in the right direction, but it's clear we haven't had an easy time. We had to use an extra set of new tyres in Q2 just to be safe, which shows how challenging the session was.

“Looking ahead to the race, it’s difficult to predict our exact pace since our running has been limited. The pack around us is incredibly tight, however a race here is always eventful, especially on the first lap, so we'll be looking to make the most of any opportunities that arise. We have some good ideas on how to improve the car's characteristics going forward, and hopefully we can make things a bit easier in the races to come.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Today was a step forward for us. Lando drove exceptionally well throughout the Qualifying session while Oscar improved and was very close at the end. As a team we optimised the package for Belgium, with our new wing matching the drag and downforce needs of this circuit.

“The latest power unit specification from HPP is working well, however, we are still finding it a little inconsistent in deployment and greener exploitation even if this doesn’t appear to be an issue that is limited to our drivers.

“In a field this tight, a couple of tenths can move you three or four places, so we chose to give Lando a second run on new tyres to chase every tenth and potentially achieve Pole on track. Overall, it’s a better session than the last few, even if there’s still a sizeable lap time gap to the best Mercedes that we need to close. For Oscar, he maximised what he could after his running across the weekend had been limited, and he did a good job to progressively reduce the gap to Lando. He would have been closer if it wasn’t for some PU under exploitation we are trying to understand.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, Spa offers chances to race and overtake, so we’re confident we can fight for important points. Penalties are frustrating, but with clean execution we believe both cars can move forward and contend, with Oscar aiming to start well and hold station with the front group and Lando capable of making progress through the field.”

Ferrari

Hamilton had a big moment right at the end of FP3, clipping the barriers at Turn 13 in an incident reminiscent of Gasly’s Friday crash. The team did a good job to get his car ready for Qualifying, but the Briton seemed half a step off his team mate, which was no real surprise all things considered. Leclerc was really mixing it at the front in Q3, but lifted on his final lap after seeing a yellow flag for a pit lane incident, which cost him a tenth or two.

Lewis Hamilton, 6th, 1:44.895

"Firstly, a big thank you to the team for the incredible job they did getting the car back together after FP3. I'm grateful as always for all their hard work. The car lacked some stability in qualifying, and we knew that the first and last sectors would be our biggest challenge, but we managed to extract the maximum from today's package. We’re starting in a decent position tomorrow and I'll be giving everything I can to move us forward."

Charles Leclerc, 5th, 1:44.893

"I was very satisfied with my first lap in Q3, while on my second lap I lost some time by lifting when I saw the yellow flag being waved at the pit lane for Isack (Hadjar). There may have been a few hundredths to gain there, but there wasn’t much more to extract from our car today. Our pace overall looks quite solid, even if our competitors are performing at a very high level and there is still a significant gap to them. We will see what we can bring home tomorrow. This track doesn’t really suit the characteristics of our car, so it could be challenging to overtake and defend during the race, especially in the straight lines. We will push to gain some positions at the start and take it from there. A podium would be a good result for us."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"We have slightly mixed feelings after this session, as we knew before the weekend that this track would be quite difficult for us, although overall, I think our performance was decent. If you consider that Verstappen benefited from a slipstream and Charles had to deal with the yellow flag situation in which he probably lost one place, I’d say it wasn’t a bad session for us. As for Lewis, the team did a great job to get the car fixed in time after his crash. It’s never ideal to go into quali like this but he has had good pace all weekend.

"Now focus on ourselves, knowing there is a long race ahead of us tomorrow. We made a good step forward after FP3 and will fight, knowing we always perform a bit better in the race. It will be difficult for all the teams to decide the best way to deploy energy to either defend or attack."

Racing Bulls

Lindblad put his upgrades to good use, making it to Q3 for the sixth time this season, and third race weekend in a row. He topped the midfield, looked comfortable throughout and spent some time mixing it with the front runners too. Lawson did not have the same upgrades, and he just missed out on Q3. But P11 becomes P9 tomorrow thanks to the penalties for Norris and Hadjar, so he still has a very decent starting slot as he hunts a sixth straight points finish.

Arvid Lindblad, 8th, 1:45.143

"It's been a very positive Saturday, and it feels amazing to drive an F1 car on this incredible track. The team has done a brilliant job to produce a strong package this weekend as the car has been quick and the new upgrade is working really well. I lost a bit of time in the final chicane, so there's a small part of me that's disappointed with the little bit of lap time left on the table, however I'm overall happy to have had my best Quali result so far this season. We're continuing to make progress as a team, and that's fantastic to see, so want to say a huge thank you to everyone for working so hard to develop the car. We expect Lando and Isack to come through the field tomorrow, so we have to stay realistic; however, we'll remain focused to maximise every opportunity."

Liam Lawson, 11th, 1:46.120

"We’ve been a little off the pace all weekend, which was somewhat expected with the package we have here. I felt like we put together a strong Qualifying lap - the balance was in a good window, and I was happy with the car, but in the end we just didn’t have enough to make it into Q3. That being said, the progress we’ve made as a team this season has been huge, and it’s a credit to all the hard work everyone has put in. The upgrades on Arvid’s car are clearly working well, which is really encouraging heading into next week when they’ll be implemented on my car too. Tomorrow is going to be a tough race, but our race pace has been strong throughout the season, so hopefully we can show that again and fight our way forward ."

Mattia Spini, Head of Trackside Engineering

"It was a strong Qualifying result for the team, with Arvid taking P8 and Liam finishing just outside Q3. We knew we had an opportunity today, but Audi and Alpine had shown good pace throughout Free Practice, so we had to focus on clean execution and extracting the most from every run. In FP3, we used two sets of Soft tyres while saving an additional Hard set for the race. This meant we needed to deliver a strong first run in Q1, which both drivers did, allowing us to keep two new Soft sets available for Q2 and maximise our chances of reaching Q3. Unfortunately, Liam was not fully comfortable with the rear of the car, and his fastest lap in Q2 left him just 38 milliseconds short of a place in Q3. Arvid showed strong and consistent pace throughout Qualifying, finishing P8 ahead of our main competitors and less than three tenths from P4. That is an encouraging indication of the car's performance. With grid penalties applied ahead of us, our drivers are set to start P7 and P9 tomorrow. We did not complete a proper long run in Free Practice, which makes race preparation more challenging than usual, but we are in a good position to fight for points."

Audi

Bortoleto received a tow in Q2, which was enough to lift him ahead of his rivals and into Q3. Audi had impressed in FP3 too, so they looked in the mix for the top 10 regardless. Once there, the Brazilian could not quite match Lindblad, but he will start eighth tomorrow as he chases a second straight points finish. Hulkenberg exited in Q2, and was forced to stop out on track as the flag fell with a hydraulics issue. It remains to be seen whether his car will be good to go for the Grand Prix, or whether the team will need to break parc ferme conditions for a repair.

Nico Hulkenberg, 14th, 1:46.671

"It was a frustrating end to qualifying. We had gearbox issues from quite early in the session, with the shifts not working properly, and then right after Q2 the team told me to stop the car on track because of a hydraulic problem.

"It's disappointing because there are definitely some encouraging signs in the performance, but we haven't had a clean run on my side of the garage, with technical issues holding us back. We'll take it on the chin, work through it overnight and try again tomorrow."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 9th, 1:45.628

“I am very happy about today. I think we maximised everything we had, and even managed to extract a little bit more, so I am really pleased with our performance. Tomorrow won't be easy: the Racing Bulls are ahead of us, and I'm expecting a tough fight because they are rather quick. But I'll give it everything I have and see what we can build from there. “A big shoutout as well to all our team members from Hinwil, Neuburg and Bicester who are supporting us from the grandstands this weekend. It means a lot to have them cheering on us, and it gives us even more motivation to fight for a strong result tomorrow."

Allan McNish, Racing Director

"Gabriel delivered an outstanding qualifying performance today. Reaching Q3 was beyond our initial expectations, and the laps he put together were impressive. It's a great reward for everyone's efforts and shows what we're capable of when everything comes together. "On the other side of the garage, it was a much more frustrating afternoon for Nico. His first run in Q1 was compromised by traffic, which forced us to use an additional set of tyres, making the remainder of qualifying more difficult. After Q2, a hydraulic issue brought his car to a halt, adding to the disappointment. We know there was more potential in the package than the final result suggests, so it's unfortunate that we couldn't show that today. Even so, with Gabriel 8th and Nico 13th on the grid at a circuit we didn't expect to suit us particularly well, we can be encouraged by our overall competitiveness."

Alpine

Alpine have had a topsy turvy weekend, looking to have top 10 potential at times in amidst that heavy crash for Gasly. But in the end, neither the Frenchman nor Colapinto could scrape into Q3. Both inherit places though thanks to grid penalties, leaving them right in the mix to fight for points tomorrow. And quite often, their race pace proves superior to their one-lap speed.

Pierre Gasly, 12th, 1:46.331

“First of all, a big thank you to the team for fixing the car after what happened yesterday and having everything ready on time for today's running. It was a little unfortunate with where the barrier is at that corner with something similar happening to Lewis [Hamilton] in Free Practice 3. In terms of our Qualifying, I am not happy with P12 as Q3 is always our target. However, that is just the reality of where we are at the moment, and we have work to do if we want to be in the top ten tomorrow. There are some grid penalties, which means we start P10 and we'll try to capitalise on track position in the race. Our target is more likely to be the Audis rather than the Racing Bulls who have a lot of pace again. Longer-term we have to add more performance and try to get back in the fight with them. Spa is a track where there are a few good overtaking opportunities, so we'll try to make the most of our set-up, gain some places and target scoring points by the end.”

Franco Colapinto, 13th, 1:46.392

“We had hoped for more from Qualifying today in Spa but we will line-up in P11 for tomorrow's race with some grid penalties for cars ahead. I lost a bit of time on my final push lap so it might have been a little more for me, however, ultimately, we are just lacking pace relative to some of our rivals. It feels like we have made a small step on performance since Silverstone, which is positive, and hopefully we can carry that forwards into tomorrow when it counts. Of course, Racing Bulls again look strong and Audi are just ahead of us, so that's where our fight is. Going forwards, we need to understand where we are lacking and where we can improve so we can be ahead of them again. Now our focus is on tomorrow and our objective is to be in the points. We'll try to have a good start and put ourselves in contention to be up there inside the top ten.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“In terms of our end result, it's certainly not what we set out to achieve, but that is an accurate reflection of just where the performance of our car lies at the moment. Racing Bulls and Audi have done a much better job recently to add more performance to the car and find those extra tenths of a second which prove the difference between Q2 and Q3. We will benefit from some grid penalties for other cars to start P10 with Pierre and P11 with Franco tomorrow and hopefully we can put some pressure on cars ahead at the start before settling into our own race from there. That will be our aim as we try to recover some positions and target points with both cars. Finally, a big well done and thank you to the mechanics in their repair job on Pierre's car from the damage sustained yesterday and having everything ready on time for today. It's never a straightforward task and everyone involved has done a great job.”

Williams

James Vowles came onto the radio to apologise to Albon when the Williams man exited in Q1, saying that the team needs to provide a better car to their drivers. The Thai driver missed out by just 0.007s. Sainz at least scraped into Q2 but could not come near troubling the top 10, with Williams still struggling with an overweight car. They expect to make a step for Baku when their next big package of parts are due – something that cannot come quickly enough for the Grove-based team.

Carlos Sainz, 15th, 1:46.777

“It's been a tough weekend so far. We were dealing with an issue in all of the practice sessions, so it was a relief to find a fix for qualifying and get the car working as it should. Getting into Q2 was a positive, putting in some good laps and extracting everything from the car. Tomorrow will be about executing a clean race and avoiding any drama around us. We'll need some chaos to get within reach of points, so we'll look to maximise any opportunities that come our way.”

Alex Albon, 17th, 1:47.120

“It's frustrating not to make it into Q2 today after feeling like the car was in a good place all weekend. We made some setup changes between FP3 and qualifying, but they were just too aggressive, so it's unfortunate to fall short when it matters. We've been in good rhythm with the car all weekend and have been slowly chipping away at improvements, which had been paying off. We'll just have to see what we can do tomorrow, keeping in mind there are a few grid penalties, so we'll have a few cars out of place.”

Haas

Not to be for Haas, who continue to struggle with a car badly in need of some more upgrades. Ocon exited at the first time of asking, for the fifth time in the last six race weekends. Bearman made Q2 but could go no further, unable to take the fight to Sainz’s Williams. As such, tomorrow might be a long day for the team but they have indicated that more upgrades are in the works – as to when they are arriving, that remains to be seen.

Oliver Bearman, 16th, 1:46.779

“It was a tough day, and we weren't fast enough to be in the fight for Q3. We did our very best out there, and our very best was P16. It’s a shame to be looking a bit more competitive in the previous session, but honestly, the others were probably not executing as cleanly as we were. In qualifying, everyone put it together, and in the end, I feel like I did one of my best qualifying sessions in terms of execution. All my laps were really well done and lap times were improving, so on that side, I’m happy. On the performance side, I’m not, none of us are happy, and we need to continue working, but the positive is that the car balance has taken a big step forward from the last event.”

Esteban Ocon, 18th, 1:47.801

“We knew it was going to be a tough session, as we have a big straight-line deficit compared to where we should be. In the first run, it was almost five-tenths in the straights that we were losing, so we were trying to lose less by getting closer to another car. The lap was good, the team was happy with it, and I was as well. I've done plenty of those here, and I was able to get through easily in the past. Now, with that difficulty plus some downforce loss on the rear, it was always going to be tricky. We did the maximum we could with what we have, and we'll keep pushing tomorrow.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It’s been a bit of a mixture of a day because on Friday, we made good progress, and that carried on today with Ollie’s car. He’s very happy with the balance and the behavior of the car, and I think he almost got everything out of it in qualifying. There was one unfortunate incident on the final lap of Q2, where he knocked one of the steering wheel switches, and that cost a bit of lap time. Other than that, he’s very happy with the car and got the maximum out of it. The team worked really well together, so that’s the positive.

“On the flipside, Esteban wasn’t happy with the car today. He was happy with the car in FP2, so we don’t yet understand why that has happened, and you can see how far away he was. Even though there was an issue with deployment in qualifying as well, so the delta is bigger than it should’ve been, even without that, he wouldn’t have matched Ollie’s time today because he was not happy with the car. That wasn’t the case yesterday, so we need to look into that. We’ve had this problem before as a team, with both drivers, so we will get to the bottom of it, but that’s one of the things we’re trying to improve. The good thing is when everything we've got is working how it should, both drivers are happy, so we know we’re going in the right direction, we just need to put more performance into the car, but it’s certainly one step forward.”

Cadillac

Bottas has had the edge on Perez for most of the weekend, and he did out-qualify the Mexican by a tenth and a half. That is the second straight race the Finn has been faster over one lap. The best news for the team was the lack of reliability issues they have faced this weekend, with every bit of data collected aiding Cadillac in bridging the gap to the midfield ahead.

Sergio Perez, 20th, 1:47.971

“I was happy with my lap but unfortunately I had some issues with deployment since FP1 that we didn’t manage to fix before Qualifying. It proved to be quite costly as those tenths that we are missing on the straights could have moved us a few positions further up the grid. Getting to the flag tomorrow will be quite important for us and that’s our focus for now. We have to hope we get a good start and be in the mix - that will be the ultimate target for us.”

Valtteri Bottas, 19th, 1:47.823

“It’s been good to have a straightforward weekend with complete sessions, because every lap helps build confidence and improves our understanding of the car. I felt comfortable behind the wheel all weekend, and I think we got everything out of the package in qualifying today. We know there are still areas we need to improve, but we’re learning more every time we go out and that’s giving us more consistency. Tomorrow is about making the most of every opportunity and seeing what we can do over a race distance.”

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal

“We’ve worked well as a team this weekend and executed every session according to plan. Qualifying was incredibly tight today and we were less than three hundredths of a second from jumping another place. We will continue to work hard to keep making progress. Our goal for tomorrow will be to keep in that midfield and take advantage of any chances that come our way.”

Aston Martin

Another tricky session for Aston Martin, who initially locked out the back row of the grid. Alonso pipped his team mate in their own battle, and both carry penalties into tomorrow’s Grand Prix after taking on new power unit components. As to what they can do in the race, getting on the pace of the Cadillacs to fight with Perez and Bottas must be the aim.

Fernando Alonso, 21st, 1:50.002

“It was difficult out there today in Qualifying, but it’s as we expected. We still try to do our best and this has been the case over the last ten races for us. We will make sure we maximise everything tomorrow and continue learning what we can to find every bit of performance. Tomorrow will be about doing everything we can at the highest level.”

Lance Stroll, 22nd, 1:50.177

“We made a few changes before Qualifying today and improved the car in some areas. We didn't get the perfect tow that we were looking for, though, so there were a few tenths lost there. Other than that, the pace was what we were expecting today. We know there's not much to fight for here. It's about getting through this weekend and focussing on what's coming in Budapest.”

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

“It's another tough Saturday, but we know this is our situation and we just focussed on delivering a well-executed Qualifying session. Tyre preparation was good for both Lance and Fernando, and they both placed their cars well to pick up a tow on their best laps. With our current performance level, it won't be an easy race, but we will focus to extract what we can tomorrow. Just one more race and then we can focus on Budapest.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“Everything suggests that tomorrow’s race will be a one-stop, with strategy mainly determined by the new tyre sets available to each team. The opening stint could be completed on either the Medium or the Soft, depending on which new sets teams have chosen to keep.

“The top teams may start on the C3 before switching to the Hard between laps 17 and 23. Those who have saved a new set of C4 could instead use it at the start, bringing their stop forward into the 14 to 20 lap window.

“The Soft was extensively tested during the first hour of free practice and, on some cars, appears to give drivers better feedback under braking. For this reason, it could be preferred, also thanks to the grip advantage it offers.

“Two-stop strategies are approximately eight to ten seconds slower. Possible options include Soft-Hard-Hard and Soft-Hard-Medium. As already noted yesterday, some teams have kept an additional set of C2 as a precaution, which could prove useful to have a fresh tyre available in the event of a neutralisation.

“Tyre behaviour is in line with our expectations. Lap times are also now close to simulations, with just a one tenth gap between the pole time and our projections. The track has evolved quickly and thermal degradation on the rear axle is now the only factor that will need to be taken into account during the race.”