Singapore: The Qualifying Sessions Seen from the Stands

McLaren

Lewis Hamilton – Pole position

Jenson Button – 4th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: « Lewis has been fantastic all weekend, and today he showed a tremendous fast lap to achieve a superb pole position here in Singapore.

This is the fourth consecutive pole position for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and the 153rd pole position in McLaren’s history, all of which is almost exactly on the date of the 40th anniversary of our very first pole position, achieved by Peter Revson at Mosport Park (in Canada, editor’s note) on September 23, 1972.

Yesterday as well, Lewis seemed impressive, with a solid pace on long runs during the free practice sessions.

Jenson had more difficulties this afternoon, but he showed his spirit and class by achieving the fourth fastest time despite not being fully comfortable today. But he is a splendid driver, as we all know, and he will want to score big points tomorrow.

Lewis will aim for the win, obviously, and if he makes a clean start, there’s no reason he can’t do it. We never underestimate our opposition and, undoubtedly, tomorrow’s race will be long and difficult, but you have to say that we are in a very good position: everything is working perfectly, in fact!

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – 2nd

Bruno Senna – 17th

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Pastor’s superb front-row performance brings a truly welcome boost to the whole team and puts Pastor in a strong position to fight for the podium tomorrow. After securing a move to Q2, unfortunately, Bruno hit the wall in the second session, damaging the rear suspension and settling for an unrevealing position for the race.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – 3rd

Mark Webber – 7th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: After being competitive in Free Practice 1, 2, and 3, 3rd and 7th on the grid is a strong result here, but perhaps not as strong as we hoped. Our good pace seemed to falter in Q3, but it’s always tight, and we have a long and hot race ahead of us tomorrow. I’m sure we can race well from the 3rd and 7th positions on the grid.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 5th

Felipe Massa – 13th

Stefano Domenicali, Team Director: We knew that our level of performance wouldn’t allow us to fight for the front grid positions; nevertheless, Fernando’s 5th place is a good starting point for tomorrow’s race. Our drivers extracted the best from the car, which is no surprise. The gap compared to the pole is significant, but it doesn’t change the fact of the distance separating us on the grid. Felipe struggled more than his teammate, as was the case yesterday, particularly with the tires. Tires will be a crucial factor tomorrow, as we can expect significant degradation. Fernando has a chance to make it to the podium while Felipe can enter the top 10. It will be a challenging race for everyone; both the men and machines will be under intense stress, and anything can happen during the race that will last two hours. We must stay focused and make the most of the opportunities.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Force India

Paul di Resta – 6th

Nico Hülkenberg – 11th

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: « Having shown solid pace during the Monza qualifiers, it is particularly satisfying to see that the car is also performing well here in Singapore – a circuit with completely different characteristics. The car was fast from the start of free practice sessions and we delivered a performance when it counted. Paul’s sixth position puts us where we need to be to score points and maybe fight for the podium. Nico was also very quick here but didn’t have a clean Q2. He is knocking on the top 10 and I’m sure he’ll fight to climb up tomorrow. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – 8th

Kimi Räikkönen – 12th

Alan Permane, Track Operations Director: « We are disappointed. We were hoping for much better. Over last night and during the last free practice session, we significantly improved the car. In Q3, Romain was two-tenths slower than in Q2, but we saw where he lost time. Kimi was slower with fresh tires than with new ones. But the reason is not obvious. He seemed good in his laps on used tires.

After our analysis last night, we found a much better setup and continued in this direction during Free Practice 3. The car improved steadily and made a step forward during qualifying. Both drivers were satisfied with the car after Free Practice 3.

The super softs are much faster than the softs. Therefore, there will need to be a significant difference in wear for the softs to be preferred for the race.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher – 9th

Nico Rosberg – 10th

Ross Brawn, Team Director: « We have made good progress throughout the weekend with our new aerodynamic package, which is encouraging. This weekend is the first opportunity for Nico and Michael to try these improvements, and it has taken a bit of time to find the right settings. Given the very small gaps in the second part of the grid, we decided not to run in Q3, and we are happy to have the choice of our tires as well as new sets for the race. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi – 18th

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: « Clearly, this is not the result we were expecting, it’s really disappointing. Nonetheless, this result is all we could achieve today. But the race is tomorrow, and this season has repeatedly shown that we are capable of achieving very good results even starting from far back. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – 15th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 16th

James Key, Technical Director: Following Friday, we had to refine the direction we were working in, especially with the Super Soft tires, in Daniel’s case, while Jean-Eric had some difficulties with braking balance. It’s his first time on this track, and he had a lot to learn considering how long and technical the circuit is.

Then, during the night, the two drivers and their engineers managed to make good progress, particularly Jean-Eric, so that the car seemed reasonably well-balanced in Free Practice 3.

In the qualifiers, we thought we could have been ranked one spot higher, even though Q3 was unthinkable. But we’re only a few tenths off those ahead of us, and since it’s typically a hectic race, we hope to capitalize on our race performance. The most important thing is that both drivers stayed clean all weekend, so well done to both of them, especially Jean-Eric for his quick learning.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Caterham

Vitaly Petrov – 19th

Heikki Kovalainen – 20th

Mark Smith, Technical Director: « First of all, I want to thank the team for the excellent work they did between Free Practice 3 and qualifying to repair Vitaly’s car and give him what he needed to perform in Q1. It’s good to see that we’ve started to unlock the potential of the new parts we’ve brought here, and the goal is to ensure we continue to progress. We’ve had two tough races recently, but everyone has doubled their efforts, and the lap times we’re seeing in qualifying are the first signs that we’re heading in the right direction. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Marussia

Timo Glock – 21st

Charles Pic – 22nd

John Booth, Team Director: « Today was less straightforward for us and we had to deal with some challenges that didn’t set us up well for qualifying. However, we are generally pleased with the improvements we’ve seen in the car, and specifically, some adjustments we’ve made to the aerodynamics today, which have helped us further. With Timo, we remain here wondering how much better he could have done in qualifying with the benefit of the additional running he lost in Free Practice 3. Nevertheless, I am confident that the pace he has shown at all other times during the weekend, coupled with his enthusiasm for this circuit, means he should have a great race tomorrow. Charles has learned well on what is a difficult circuit for any driver, and his concern for tomorrow will be to race as hard as possible to progress as best as he can, keeping in mind the penalty inflicted in Free Practice 3, which will be added at the end of the race. Naturally, he is very disappointed in himself for having made this mistake. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

HRT

Narain Karthikeyan – 23rd

Pedro de la Rosa – 24th

Toni Cuquerella, Technical Director: « Yesterday, we tried new parts and, although it’s not the ideal circuit to draw conclusions, after analyzing the data we collected, we opted for the adjustments that could work best for us. And, indeed, we observed a significant improvement considering we are on a circuit that requires downforce. The drivers also had good feelings, so the overall result is positive.

Narain had a good qualifying session, in line with the previous Grand Prix where he was more confident and consistent. It’s a shame that Pedro couldn’t have a clear timed lap.

Tomorrow will be a difficult race because in terms of duration, it’s the longest of the season. But it will also be tough due to the high temperatures that the engine and brakes can reach, as well as the thermal degradation of the rear tires. All this should lead us to a two or three-stop strategy.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes