Saturday: Marussia struggled with the car’s balance
At Marussia, the night was busy trying to resolve balance issues for both drivers: while for Jules Bianchi, they were resolved to the point where he could compete with the Caterhams, for Max Chilton the difficulties persisted.
Jules Bianchi – 21st and 20th [19th on the grid]
« After the problems we’ve had so far this weekend, we absolutely needed to find the right solution in time for qualifying. I am very happy that we achieved that, and even though we couldn’t take time to improve the car, we made enough progress to place ourselves between the two Caterhams, which is a good result compared to where we were. If the balance had been completely there, who knows, it might have been possible to get ahead of Van der Garde because we are just a few hundredths behind. It was also quite windy in Sector 1, so if we look at the whole picture, we have to be very happy with the result. Thanks to the team for all the hard work accomplished in resolving our issues, and now we can look forward to the race with a little more confidence. »
Max Chilton – 22nd and 22nd [21st on the grid]
« I’m a bit disappointed with my result. We struggled with the car’s balance all weekend. We went back to where we started with the settings to try to reduce the instability, but it made things worse and we had to try different things to make progress. Actually, I was quite happy with the lap I did this afternoon, but the time just wasn’t there, which is frustrating. Our car is always better in races, and that’s what we’ve focused on, so we hope for better things tomorrow. »
