Red Bull overcomes aquaplaning to qualify 2nd and 4th
Red Bull enjoyed a strong qualifying as Mark Webber put his car in second place for tomorrow's British Grand Prix while Sebastian Vettel will start from 4th on the grid. Both drivers managed the difficult circumstances well but they also feel it could have been even better.
Mark Webber, #2, Position: 2nd, (3rd Practice – P13, 1:33.398):
“I raced here in ’95 for first time so I’ve been round this track a few times. It was a tight session today with very mixed conditions. The cars are difficult to handle when it’s like that. In every session we went out the times were changing by up to five or six seconds per lap; there was a lot of standing water and aqua planning. I was happy I was competitive when it counted. You have to put it all on the line in Q3. Alonso put a lap together that was just that sniff better than mine, but I’m not standing here with any regrets about my lap. I’m happy with what I put on the table and front row was what we deserved.”
Sebastian Vettel, #1, Position: 4th, (3rd Practice – P4, 1:32.420):
“It was a tough day. It’s raining again now and it will probably be the same weather again tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a long race. We are at the front which is good. It was difficult today and in the end we only got one lap when the conditions were at their best. I think I should have been a bit quicker, but that’s life. It was the right call to red flag the session, it’s a shame for everyone watching, but we cannot control the weather.”
Christian Horner, Team principal:
“Incredible conditions today. First of all, hats of to all the public who sat out for pretty much three hours in horrendous conditions. It was the right thing to stop qualifying in Q2, irrelevant of where we were placed, as it was just too dangerous with aquaplaning for these cars. Having navigated our cars into Q3, ultimately to qualify second and fourth is a really strong team result. Mark was so close to getting the pole, the rain just started to increase as he was completing his lap and he dropped a couple of tenths due to the rain, but nonetheless it was a great lap from him right at the end of Q3. Sebastian is right up there as well in P4. Hopefully it won’t be so wet tomorrow for the race.”
Cyril Dumont, Renault engine support:
“A difficult session. I think in these conditions you always have more to lose than to gain and it’s always difficult to put a lap together. Mark did a pretty good job and almost got pole. Seb starts fourth and I think, with everything today, to start second and fourth is a good result. Tomorrow will be a long race – also if the forecast rain returns. Engine wise we have looked at engine usage following the alternator issue at the last race, so hopefully we won’t have any issues tomorrow.”
