Saturday: Red Bull still ahead in qualifying

Sebastian Vettel – 1st

It’s a long way around this track. Qualifying is tough, there are three sectors and you have to be at 100% in each. My laps in Q1 and Q2 weren’t perfect, but in Q3, they were, so I’m happy with that. The most important thing is that Sergio is okay and conscious. We were sitting and waiting to go out, but we were watching the images on the TV screen, and so we’re all thinking of him and wishing him the best possible. I hope he gets well very soon. It’s never easy to sit and wait for a long time in the garage, and not many people improved after that. It will be a long race here tomorrow and many things can happen. We’ve seen this year that with multiple pit stops, things can change. Pole position is very important here, so we can be happy with that, but there are no guarantees for tomorrow’s race. We have to push hard and see what we can do.

Mark Webber – 3rd

« The races are more competitive this year compared to previous years, and tomorrow will be no exception. It’s possible to win from third place, but qualifying is crucial here and the pole is clearly a good advantage to have. Seb [Vettel] did a great lap and secured the pole, as did Jenson Button. It was a boring session for all of us, you never anticipate not gaining a second, but that’s how it was today and bigger priorities took over when one of our colleagues, Sergio, had an accident.

All our thoughts are with him, he is in good hands, and he is talking and conscious, which is good news, he will bounce back I am sure. We can learn a few things from this in terms of safety and it’s probably an area we need to look to improve for the future. Jenson was lucky and Karl Wendlinger came back in the 90s – so there are a few areas where we need to keep an eye.

Christian Horner

« On a day like this when you see an accident like Sergio Perez’s, the priority is his condition. It seems that the first signs are positive, which speaks to the strength of our cars and the safety standards on the circuits now. A similar accident by Karl Wendlinger in the ’90s ended with serious injuries, so the main fact today is that the first signs are positive. Sergio is a strong guy, and I hope he returns in great shape very quickly. Sebastian’s performance in Q3 is quite phenomenal. The lap he did is a classic balance between speed and precision, which is required here; he delivered a very impressive lap time, so that’s great for him. It’s great to have Mark so high here, and he made a very good recovery after a tough start to the weekend. Having both drivers starting on the clean side of the grid before tomorrow’s race is very encouraging. »

Cyril Dumont

«First of all, I would like to have a thought for Sergio. No one likes to see this kind of image and I wish him a very speedy recovery. Regarding our qualifications, I think Sebastian has once again done a great job and it’s another good result for Mark. I hope we can build on this tomorrow, but it was difficult to find the words today and I hope Sergio will be okay. »