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Qualifying Notes:
• George Russell qualified second and Nicholas Latifi 12th for the
Belgian Grand Prix
• George equalled his best qualifying result in Formula One and, in an
interrupted Q3 session, posted a 2:00.086 on intermediate Pirelli tyres
• It marks the team’s first front-row start since the 2017 Italian Grand
Prix where Lance Stroll qualified fourth and was promoted to second
through power unit penalties. However, it is the first time the team has
finished second quickest in qualifying since Valtteri Bottas at the 2014
German Grand Prix
• Nicholas secured his best-ever qualifying position in F1 and made Q2
for the second time this season. He continued to improve throughout both
sessions on the intermediate compound, posting his quickest time with a
1:58.056 on his final run |
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Nicholas Latifi:
"I’m very
pleased with my best qualifying result of the season and also my Formula
One career. More than anything, I’m happy that I got some more
experience in the wet because I haven’t had much of that in our car, so
it was nice to get some laps in and really build some confidence in
these conditions. We’ve had a great result for the team today,
especially in challenging weather, so now we’re aiming to capitalise on
that in the race tomorrow." |
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George Russell:
"It is an amazing feeling and we definitely did not expect to be
starting on the front-row! The team did an incredible job to have me on
the track at the right time, on the right tyres, with the right
strategy. The driving is one thing, but you need to have everything
right around you and often in these moments, that is what it’s all
about. I’m so happy for everyone as it’s such a team effort and they did
a fantastic job. We obviously had a great result in Hungary, and it
feels like our hard work is starting to pay off and people are starting
to recognise that.
I knew my last effort was a good lap. It was so tricky out there but
because we’re not in Q3 every week, I had the luxury of really being
able to put everything on the line and go for it. I had a really good
feeling from lap one in FP3 in the wet and when it mattered, we put
everything together and that was exceptional. This feeling is exactly
what Formula One is all about. Qualifying is over now though and the
race is tomorrow, so we need to make sure we have a good one." |
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Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"Today was a classic Spa qualifying session with the heavy but
intermittent showers making decisions very difficult. Today we got many
things right, but we did so from a position of having little to lose,
which always takes some of the pressure off.
The whole team worked extremely well today, and collectively good
decisions were made. Both George and Nicholas were excellent throughout
and both provided a great calming influence to go with their immense
bravery and skill on track. Nicholas called the initial Q1 tyres
perfectly and although he spun on his opening lap, he recovered very
well to comfortably qualify for Q2.
In Q2 we opted to use another two sets of new Intermediate tyres on each
car, giving each driver a final chance on a drying track with a new set.
Nicholas couldn’t quite match the improvement that George made, but
nonetheless P12 was an excellent result. George built momentum
throughout Q1 and Q2 and delivered a very strong lap at the end of Q2 to
secure his place in Q3 once again.
Conditions were much worse in Q3 with visibility and grip both low.
George was struggling on the Kemmel straight as Norris crashed in Eau
Rouge and the session was stopped. At the restart we thought that
conditions were still quite poor and elected to leave the pit lane on
the Extreme Wet knowing that there was time to switch to Inters if
appropriate. George was quite confident that the Inter was the correct
tyre and with the track now improving quickly, we opted to prepare the
tyres for a single ‘all-in’ lap at the end of the session. On this
occasion the strategy worked perfectly, and George had his tyres, brakes
and power unit all in perfect states as well as a clear track ahead of
him. His lap was little short of exceptional and he was able to balance
risk and reward perfectly to take a very well-earned front-row position.
Tomorrow will undoubtedly be difficult, and we are under no illusion
that we have qualified both cars a little out of position. However, with
more rain looking likely for tomorrow, we will do everything we can to
make the most of today’s result. More importantly, we wish Lando and
everyone at McLaren well and look forward to racing them tomorrow." |
