Sunday: Kobayashi and Pérez both in the points

Kamui Kobayashi – 6th

I’m very happy – for the team and for myself. Finishing sixth is a good start to the season. After the start, I almost collided with Bruno (Senna) who spun in front of me. I was lucky to avoid him, but at the same time, Sergio couldn’t avoid the collision with my car, so I had to do the whole race with a damaged rear wing. It was very difficult and it affected the car’s performance.

« However, after the first lap, I was able to gain two places. I was on a two-stop strategy, with two sets of Softs at the beginning and Mediums for the last stint. With my second stop, I was unlucky with the timing because the safety car came out right after my stop. Then, I was 9th until the first lap where Pastor (Maldonado) had an accident and Sergio was battling with Nico (Rosberg), and I was able to pass them to finish 6th.

Sergio Pérez – 8th

« After having to start from the last position on the grid due to my gearbox change, I knew I had to try to gain positions right from the start. I managed to be 12th behind Kamui and touched his car when he was trying to avoid the Williams in front of him. My front wing was damaged, and that was the only issue I encountered during the race. I also had to save my tires, and a bit of fuel, and I had to fight to defend my position. It was a really tough race. »

Then in the very last lap, Pastor had an accident and I had to slow down because of the debris. But then Nico (Rosberg) overtook me, and we touched, and I had to finish the race with tires that were completely done. Obviously, I’m not happy to have lost my place in the final lap, but I’m happy for the team because finishing 6th and 8th is a good start to the season.

Giampaolo Dall’Ara – Track Engineering Manager

«It was a bittersweet weekend. The qualifiers were disappointing, but during the race, we were able to show our true potential. I even wonder if we could have done even better today, because we had to make compromises in terms of strategy as both our drivers were stuck in traffic and couldn’t make the best use of their tires. With Sergio, we had planned a flexible strategy given his position on the grid. But we didn’t know before the race if the one-stop strategy could work, and it was his only chance to score points. »

Sergio did a very good job by saving his tires for a long time, and towards the end of the race, I was particularly impressed to see how he was able to keep drivers with fresher tires behind him. Kamui was on a “normal” strategy. For him as well, the beginning of the race was a bit frustrating with the traffic, but ultimately, he managed to achieve a good result. We clearly need to improve our performance in qualifying, but the most important thing is that we know we have a good car.