Saturday: Balance issues hindered the Marussia drivers
After being beaten by Charles Pic during the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marussia had high hopes for its updates this weekend. These worked very well, but balance issues compromised Jules Bianchi's qualifying, while Max Chilton was forced to attack due to traffic on his out lap.
Jules Bianchi – 20th and 20th:
We had a good third practice session this morning, and the changes we made seemed to move us forward a little compared to yesterday. We found more grip, but the car is still not well balanced and that was the maximum I could get out of it today. The balance is quite variable between the first and last sector over several laps, and I’m still not happy in the high-speed corners. We need to analyze the data and understand what I can do tomorrow in the race to manage these situations. We will need a good start to get ahead of Van der Garde, but I think we will have an improvement tomorrow in terms of race pace.
Max Chilton – 21st and 21st:
« We are not there yet with the car’s balance, but I am happy with the progress made since yesterday. My first lap in particular was solid, and I definitely feel the benefit of not having lost any track time this weekend. I feel like I have been able to show more of my progress. I am really looking forward to the race now. »
