Singapore Grand Prix - Saturday
From the 2009 season, the FIA is making public the weights of the cars, with their fuel load included, following Saturday's qualifying session.
Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.
1.
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 660.5
2. Vettel
Red Bull-Renault 651.0
3.
Rosberg Williams-Toyota 657.5
4. Webber
Red Bull-Renault 654.5
5.
Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 655.5
6. Alonso
Renault 658.0
7. Glock
Toyota 660.5
8.
Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 650.0
9. Kubica
BMW-Sauber 664.0
10. Kovalainen
McLaren-Mercedes 664.5
11. Nakajima
Williams-Toyota 680.7
12. Button
Brawn-Mercedes 683.0
13. Raikkonen
Ferrari 680.5
14. Buemi Toro
Rosso-Ferrari 678.0
15. Trulli
Toyota 690.9
16. Sutil
Force India-Mercedes 693.0
17. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso-Ferrari 683.5
18. Fisichella
Ferrari 678.5
19. Grosjean
Renault 683.0
20. Liuzzi
Force India-Mercedes 656.0
TV UNILATERALS
Q. Lewis, as the slogan here says 'Uniquely Singapore'. Q3 ended with Rubens Barrichello bringing out the red flags, but your first run there was good enough to be on the pole.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yes, absolutely fantastic. Very, very happy. Very pleased for the team. Obviously, we came with updates, but so did everyone else, and we really didn't know where we would be. Friday practice wasn't spectacular for me, so coming to today I came with a great positive approach and I have to say big thanks to the guys. They worked until 10am this morning rebuilding the car. We had some problems and we changed the chassis. But, nevertheless, they stayed up. They were out in the garage today in this humidity and they did a great job and I am just very pleased to have done this for them.
Q. What a lap it is here. It is bumpy, the drivers are complaining about how difficult the chicanes are. It is dusty on the last corner. Talk us through that lap.
LH: The lap was really very relaxed. Clearly I did not get to start my second lap but the car over the weekend has just got better and better as the evolution of the circuit has got a little bit grippier. Just slow improvements and feeling more comfortable in the car. The lap was really very relaxed and I think I was able to go faster. I was quite happy. Hopefully we will see what happens with the strategies but, obviously, I am in the best position to start from the front row.
Q. It looked like your out-lap was going to be quite a rush. What do you think your second run might have been?
LH: The out-lap was not that bad, actually. I had a 10 second window where I didn't have to push that much, so I had a little bit of time in me. I was just about to start the lap but I think I had a couple of tenths, for sure. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't have made the lap, but fortunately it did.
Q. Sebastian, first time in the top three since Hungary. You were purple in sector one when the red light came out, so your take on perhaps what might have been.
Sebastian VETTEL: I don't know. No-one of us can answer this question. For sure the first run was very important. Unfortunately, then the red flags came out. It was my second run on new tyres, before I was on used tyres, so it wasn't easy. My lap was maybe not as relaxed as Lewis's lap, but in the end of the day I think it is great to be back in qualifying. Especially on a street circuit where it is very important. It is so good to be back in the front. We will see with the weights now, but all weekend I think the car was very good. I was feeling very comfortable yesterday and this morning so it is a shame that the red flags came out, but, nevertheless, we kept pushing. We have brought some new stuff for here. It seems to work, so let's see tomorrow. It is a very long race, 61 laps. It is quite warm in the car, so it will be tough but I think we have all that it takes, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Q. From the outside you really seemed to be enjoying yourself around here. I don't know if you would agree with that. But there is one wall particularly where you seemed to be getting the award for being the nearest lap after lap. It looks fantastic from the outside.
SV: Yeah, I mean after the practice yesterday and even this morning the guys came to me and said ‘that was close on the wall'. I said ‘where'. There was not one moment. I think there were a couple of moments I had. I like this circuit. It is really great fun to drive here. The speeds are not very high, but it is a great challenge for all the drivers. I really enjoy it. It is bumpy. You have to really push hard and use every bit of the circuit, so it is fantastic and I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Q. Nico, first time in the top three in qualifying since early 2006. And quickest in Q2. The fastest lap of the weekend probably. Even this morning someone was talking to you and saying where are you going to be and you said you'd be lucky to be top five, or hoping for top five, but not top three. But here you are third quickest.
Nico ROSBERG: Yes, it has been a really good day. We started the weekend and it was a bit difficult and we really - just all the engineers and the whole team together – we really worked well and made some big changes on the set-up and it improved the car a lot. That has really allowed us to be just quicker and quicker all the time. Even going into qualifying we were not so sure that we would even make it into Q3 as we were having some problems with the tyres and getting the soft tyres to work properly and things like that but then eventually, in Q2, it worked out really fantastically and I got a super lap in. Then Q3 with the heavier fuels it was a bit more difficult but still it was going very well and I think P3 was fantastic for us.
Q. It is extraordinary in this Formula One season how the fortunes change and one team is competitive one weekend and then another team comes along. Thinking back to how you were in Spa and here you are a completely different race car from your point of view.
NR: Yes, that's the way it is. For Spa and Monza we all take completely different race cars in terms of aerodynamic package. It is just a completely different race car and now we have gone back to the car we used prior to those two races. We were finishing fifth and fourth with this car in every grand prix before that. The team has been pushing well on that and we have put a whole chunk of time into the package, so the car is even faster. Comparing to other people I think we have developed again very rapidly. It is really enjoyable at the moment and I am really pleased for the whole team that we have made another small step towards podium finishes and who knows maybe we can even fight for a win very soon.
Q. Lewis, give us your thoughts of Singapore in general. What is a night race going to be like for you – the heat, the demands of this circuit, the bumps?
LH: Singapore is a fantastic place. It is a beautiful city. The people here have been so welcoming and are treating people so well. The reception I have had here has been phenomenal, so I am very appreciative of all the fans. I think they have put on an even better show here this weekend. A lot more people here. I think they have tried to improve the track. They have tried to make it a little bit less bumpy. It is not as bad as last year, but it is still bumpy. But I don't see that as such a problem. That gives it a bit of character. I think if it was too smooth, then it wouldn't be any fun. I thoroughly enjoy driving it and I am very happy for today. Hopefully this can go in to tomorrow and we will get a good result.
Q. I have just got to finish by saying what a difference two weeks make. One minute you are in the wall at Monza and now you are on the pole in Singapore.
LH: I said I would be back to try and redeem myself, so hopefully this is the first step.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Lewis, three poles in four races. But yesterday you weren't so happy and yet overnight all sorts of changes. Presumably not just to the handling of the car but the whole car as well?
LH: Yeah, I wasn't actually feeling particularly great yesterday. In the car I wasn't particularly happy with the balance of the car. I was struggling a little bit. It was quite bumpy and the car wasn't riding so well and I wasn't so comfortable in the car. But as always I tried to remain optimistic and we did some work overnight. The guys also had a lot of work to do overnight. They did a great job and we made the right steps with the set-up for this morning and through P3 and also just bit by bit improving the driving. It slowly all came together and each time I was out on the track we seemed to improve a little bit more. It is the same for everyone. I think throughout the weekend probably our last few laps are potentially the most comfortable, so I am very happy.
Q. It must be remarkable having changed so much and made the car better but also changed the chassis as well. As you say the guys were working until 10 o'clock this morning but to then get into the car and be fastest that session.
LH: Yeah, there is never a doubt in my mind that I can get in the car and drive and be the quickest. You really have to try and balance the car as well as possible and you can easily go down the wrong route and be stuck driving a car which you are not comfortable with and don't have the confidence to push in corners. It is very easy to get into that position but with great help and work from the team and myself we managed to put it together. We definitely didn't expect to be on pole position today but the pace we showed was good through P3 and Q1 and Q2. In Q2, I think, the pace of Nico was quite impressive, so we will have to wait and see what strategy everyone is on but I feel quite comfortable with what we have.
Q. Obviously you finished here last year but what are 61 laps around here like with the heat and everything else?
LH: It is a nice Sunday night drive. It is obviously quite hot here, so it is intense still. You do sweat as much as you probably do anywhere else but the track is lovely. But, obviously, being a street circuit it is very easy to put a foot wrong, so concentration is vital here.
Q. Sebastian, were you expecting to do as well as you have done with the front row of the grid? Were you expecting that before you came here?
SV: Maybe not before I came here, but I think after yesterday's practice it looked very good. We had quite a good car initially, a good start, and we were able to improve it bit by bit. It is good to be back. Qualifying is obviously very important. It is a shame in Q3 that we did not get the last run on new tyres but it shows how important every single lap can be. Tomorrow is a long race and we will see. The car behaves well and the team back in England is pushing very hard. I arrived on Thursday but on Tuesday this week I was in England to see all of them there. They are all wishing me good luck and obviously we put on a couple of new parts which all work. Put it together and we are back in the front, so it is good. It is very nice.
Q. You are still the only driver to have got all the way through to Q3 in every single race.
SV: That is not the most important. It would be much nicer to be in Jenson's (Button) position right now in terms of the championship ranking, not today. We will see tomorrow. It is a long race and as I say qualifying is very important, so it is good to be consistent and good to be always in the top 10 but you don't score any points on Saturday. You have to finish the race.
Q. You must be optimistic looking at the positions of your championship rivals on the grid.
SV: As I said on Thursday, there's obviously quite a big gap. For sure, we're not giving up, we're here to attack and this is what we do, so let's see. Anything is still possible. You can see how quickly it goes up and down, just looking at which team is sometimes at the front and how quickly you can be at the back again. Force India was very quick in the last two races; now they're struggling a little bit again. Williams wasn't very competitive in the last two races; now they are back again. It's quite a mess in a way, compared to the years before, compared to what I was used to when I grew up and watched Formula One when it was pretty boring most of the time. We will see. There's still a long way to go – four races – so we will do all we can.
Q. Nico, second last year here on this circuit and now third on the grid, this must be becoming a favourite track.
NR: It is a pretty cool track. It's very difficult. There are a lot of corners, very different corners, it's a very difficult track but I enjoy it. I enjoy coming here to Singapore also. It's a really great city, really cool. I had a great time last year and I think I'm looking forward to an even stronger race this year.
Q. Is it a relief to be back at the sharp end again?
NR: Relief? Yeah, a little bit. I knew that we would be coming back with this aerodynamic package which is back to the one we had in Valencia, Hungary when we were always in the top four or five in the five races before that. So I was very confident that we could be up there – not this far up. I didn't expect to be quickest in the second part of qualifying, but the team has worked really well on the package in the meantime. Whilst we were struggling in Monza and Spa, I think they have been putting a lot of effort into this one and I think, again, in terms of development we just develop quicker than other teams which is very impressive and it's really nice to see.
Q. You called your Q2 lap ‘a super lap'; what constitutes ‘a super lap' around here?
NR: I guess it's getting all the corners together because it's such a long track and it's difficult to get all the corners right and I did them the way I wanted them to. The car also felt good. It was difficult with the tyres around here. The tyres would sometimes go away by the time you got to the last sector or they wouldn't quite be there at the start of the lap, so it wasn't quite so clear with the soft tyres but on that lap they worked very well, so I just got it all together. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you said before that you were starting to redeem yourself after the crash at Monza. What did you mean by that?
LH: I didn't mean too much by it, just that I was very hard on myself after the last race which was well-deserved. Rather than turn up here and say it was just a mistake, I felt that I would like to lift myself back up, lift the team back up and in a way show an apology to the team by getting a good result and so that's why I'm quite happy with today. It's not always possible but obviously we got pole position and when you do get that you can say thanks to the team, that was for you.
Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, in Q2 you did a 41.1s in the second sector which was 0.3s faster than anybody else and also much faster than on any other lap you did. What was so special about this lap and this sector?
LH: He cut the chicane!
NR: No, I just really got it together. Before that there was always a little mistake here and there and I just didn't get the best out of it, and on that lap I just completely nailed every corner out there and it was just fantastic and I guess that's how it came together. I was not quite so happy with the last sector, because Sebastian was again 0.3s quicker in that part although at the end of the session when the track was better... I was struggling a little bit more in the last sector but I don't know, it just all came together really well.
Q. (Sudhir Chandran – Chequered Flag) Lewis, how important is this pole in Singapore? You seem particularly pleased with yourself after this result.
LH: I'm always happy with a pole position. We've had a very, very tough year and even though we've got updates on the car, we're still not clearly the fastest and always right at the front easily. We're still pushing and pushing as hard as we can, so when you finally get another pole position it's a great feeling. It's the perfect position to start from for the race weekend. We really didn't expect it, so it's always a surprise, it's always a real pleasure and it's great. Like I said, it's a good boost for all the team. And what a great place here; I would love to win in Singapore. It is a great place. The second night race here, so I would love to win, but we will have to wait and see tomorrow. We're going to have to push very, very hard. It's going to be a tough race, for sure, with these guys.
Q. (Ralf Bach – R&B) Lewis, if I look at the time difference between you and your team-mate, it seems that you have two totally different strategies. Is that the case?
LH: I don't know what Heikki is on if I'm honest. Sometimes we know exactly what we're on. Rather than say what we're doing in Q3 and just knowing that we're going to be in Q3, I would rather just get through Q1 and Q2 first and then when I got to Q3 I found out what lap I was going to... I didn't ask what Heikki was going to do. Usually we're quite close. I spoke to him afterwards. I don't know if he got the lap out but I don't think there is going to be a huge difference.
Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, would a safety car situation like last year help you onto the podium or would it be a disadvantage in tomorrow's race?
NR: I think it would be a disadvantage, for sure, because I can definitely get a podium without a safety car and you never know what's going to happen with a safety car. So I would say it's a disadvantage, for sure.
Q. (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you're the reigning World Champion. How do you see the Button situation because it looks like the car is there, and everybody was expecting him to be fighting for the pole position but he's pretty far behind. Do you think he's suffering some pressure, he's afraid of winning and he's finding the situation particularly tough?
LH: Firstly, I wish I was up there, being able to compete with these guys for the World Championship. It's great to be up here but what I would give to be able to take this car back to earlier on this season, to at least have a fair battle with these guys but that's all in the past, we look forward. But what I can say about Jenson? You can't forget that he won six races. He has dominated for quite a lot of the season and Brawn have dominated for quite a lot of the season. It is intense. Everyone is pushing, everyone is making steps forward, so the gap that they used to have is clearly much greater a while ago, but everyone's closing the gap. The times between all us drivers, us teams, are getting closer and closer. I don't know the answer as to what's going on. I didn't see what happened to them today, but I know that they are pushing as hard as they can and without a doubt, they clearly won the last race, so it's not like that they don't have the pace and they are losing it. It's just one of those racing experiences.
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today's running?
"We have to investigate the data in depth however it seems like circuit conditions might have continued to change quite quickly today. This means that some teams could have struggled to adjust their cars for the increased grip from the improved track surface. This means that car balance could alter, so it has been a difficult day once more here in Singapore due to the good challenge of this circuit."
What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow's race?
"It is still very difficult to say exactly, and we did see a lot of track improvement through the race last year here. We continue to see more degradation from the super soft tyre, in particular at the rear, although the degradation does not initially look to be as much as yesterday. However, there are no easy answers here. I suspect that the teams will be working very hard analysing their data and deciding their strategies for tomorrow."
Rubens Barrichello - 5th: "It was an eventful qualifying session for me today but I'm still feeling positive with starting from tenth position on the grid. Considering everything that happened, I feel that it's a pretty good result. I had a problem with the car after Q2 when I hit the kerb too hard and probably damaged the floor as the car wasn't feeling quite right at the end of the session. It was a great lap to get into Q3 as we were struggling for pace and I knew that I had to push regardless of any damage. I was really going for it on my final run in Q3 and unfortunately the car bottomed out and I lost control and ended up bouncing off the wall. It's a shame but the car should be ok and we can look forward to the race tomorrow."
Jenson Button - 12th: "It was a frustrating qualifying session for us today. The car felt pretty good in Q1 and I was the second quickest which was positive. We had a bit of understeer so we made some changes for Q2 but unfortunately it made the car very difficult under braking and I locked the front left tyre up into turn seven which lost me a lot of time. Then with a flat-spotted front tyre, it's impossible to make the time up around here so that was my qualifying over. We'll make the best of it tomorrow of course but starting from twelfth on the grid is going to make it a tough race."
Ross Brawn: "It was a difficult qualifying session for the team in Singapore this evening. Prior to qualifying, we took the decision to change the gearbox in Rubens' car as this is a heavy duty cycle track for gearboxes and further dyno simulations had shown that keeping the box was too risky. Both drivers progressed comfortably through Q1 then we struggled in Q2 and were not able to get the cars balanced. Rubens put in a good lap at the end to progress with Jenson suffering from understeer throughout the day. We made some significant changes to his car prior to qualifying but were not able to get into the top ten. We expected to be more competitive in Q3 but with Rubens' accident, it's clearly not been a great day. We have to tough it out and see what we can recover tomorrow."
Sebastian Vettel - 2nd: "Unfortunately, when the red flag came out it was my first run on new tyres. I had previously been on used tyres, so my flying lap wasn't as easy or relaxed as it might have been. But, at the end of the day, it's great to be back qualifying near the front, especially on a street circuit. The car has been very good all weekend and I've been feeling comfortable. It was a shame the red flag came out, but we'll keep pushing tomorrow. Let's see - it's a long race and it will be tough, but we have all that it takes, so I'm looking forward to it."
Mark Webber - 4th: "You never think your first run is going to be for the grid, so I think everyone always leaves a little bit of a margin. I was on scrubbed tyres and was banking on a big lap in my second run. I'm not sure who was on new tyres, but we're fourth so let's see – it could have been a lot worse. My guys have been absolute superstars this weekend, putting the car back together after yesterday, in very tough working conditions for them here. I have a lot of motivation to reward them tomorrow."
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "An exciting qualifying session. It was disappointing that it got red flagged just before the end, as both our guys were on really strong laps and we felt we could lock out the front row today. But, both drivers drove very well throughout all the sessions and second and fourth are good starting places for tomorrow's race, which will be long and tough. The spectacle of seeing the cars driving under the lights again here is fantastic."
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: "A mixed feeling again today. It's a very good qualifying result, we didn't expect to be as quick as we are, so second and fourth is very good, but I think we were quicker than our final times show. We didn't demonstrate exactly what we can do, due to the red flag interrupting the final runs, but let's see tomorrow. I think we can have a strong race and close the gap to the Brawns here."
Fernando Alonso - 5th: "We start the race in fifth, which is a good position for us. It might be difficult to fight for a podium tomorrow, but for sure finishing in the top five would be our main goal. Our race pace was not fantastic during practice so we need to improve that a little bit for tomorrow, otherwise we might have a defensive race as I will be determined to defend this fifth place."
Romain Grosjean - 19th: "We were having problems with the brakes and the team was trying very hard to solve them, but in the end it was a difficult session. I don't believe that 19th on the grid shows the true pace of the car so I look forward to the race where hopefully I can make some progress. I remain in a positive frame of mind and want to gain some valuable experience from this demanding track."
Bob Bell, Team Principal: "Unfortunately Romain did not have a great qualifying session as he had brake problems which hampered his progress. In Q2, Fernando picked up pace - maybe because the track temperature was falling slightly or perhaps because the circuit was picking up grip. Whatever the reason, the balance of the car certainly improved and Fernando was able to gain time and had more confidence in the car. He did a very good job in Q3 although it's fair to say we benefited from Barrichello's incident, but I think it was a good solid performance considering our expectations prior to qualifying."
Lewis Hamilton - 1st: "It's an absolutely fantastic result. We came here with several technical upgrades, and we didn't know if we'd be up there - particularly after Friday practice, which wasn't spectacular for me. My pole lap was very relaxed: the car has just got better and better as the track has evolved, and I think I would have gone faster on my final lap if the session hadn't been aborted. I didn't expect to be on pole today, but our pace has been really good. We'll need to see what fuel loads everyone else is running, but I feel quite confident in what we're doing and I'm in the best position for the race tomorrow."
Heikki Kovalainen - 10th: "This is a very disappointing result for me. In the first two sessions, things went smoothly – although my laptimes weren't as competitive as I was expecting. For Q3, I didn't get a good enough lap in during my first run as I'd been running the harder tyre, which wasn't quick enough. I also made a couple of mistakes, but I was focusing my efforts on my second run – which would have been on a set of new Option tyres. It's going to be a tough race tomorrow: starting from 10th will make things very difficult, but there's nothing I can do about that now, so I'm just going to absolutely go for it tomorrow."
Martin Whitmarsh - Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: "Although today's qualifying ended slightly anticlimactically, owing to an accident that befell Rubens [Barrichello] and triggered a red flag that prevented the session from running its full allocated hour, Lewis thoroughly deserved his pole position.
"Other drivers were also pushing hard at the end, and undoubtedly it would therefore have been close, but we feel relatively confident that Lewis would have remained unbeaten.
"By contrast, on the harder tyre, Heikki hadn't managed to cut a really quick lap in Q3 by the time the session was red-flagged – but we believe that, with the benefit of another lap, he would have been able to go significantly faster. As a result, although he's understandably disappointed that he'll be starting the race from P10, there's no reason why he shouldn't put in a competitive showing tomorrow.
"Overall, then, we're hoping to score plenty of points – but, since Lewis will be starting from pole, I grant you that that isn't a particularly bold statement. I make no apology for that: the weather will be hot and humid, and we may even see rain; the walls are close and unforgiving; the circuit is a challenging one. But we think we're pretty well set."
Norbert Haug - Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Congratulations to Lewis for a fantastic job and his third pole position in the last four grands prix since Valencia at the end of August.
"Also, a big, big thank you to everyone in the team who worked through the night until 10 this morning to build up a different chassis for Lewis as a precaution after a problem related to a cable of our KERS Hybrid.
"Sorry for Heikki, who was strong all weekend until the last session when his first run did not work out in the expected way. After Rubens' crash there was no time for a second run left, so Heikki has to start from 10th position.
"Strategy-wise we should be in a good position and hopefully we can fight for a win tomorrow."
Kimi Raikkonen (13th, Q2 - 1m 47.177s):
“Unfortunately, today we were just not quick enough to get into Q3 and there was not much we could do about it. It’s logical that, as other cars improve, race after race, we pay a higher price for our decision to stop developing the F60. Tomorrow, we can expect a tough race as it is very difficult to overtake here, so getting into the points will be very difficult. It’s true that anything can happen on a track like this and we will have to do our best to make the most of every opportunity, maybe getting some help through a good start as we have usually managed in the last few races. As for the tyres, I think that tomorrow, there could be a problem with wear on the softer tyre, even if the situation could improve during the race.”
Giancarlo Fisichella (18th, Q1 - 1m 48.350s):
“Obviously, I am disappointed with this result. I really wanted to do well, but I still haven’t managed to find the right level of confidence in this car: it’s almost as if it is driving me rather than the other way round. Especially on such a difficult track, I don’t have the confidence to go right to the limit. Naturally starting from eighteenth place means I can expect a very difficult race. I will try and make up some places at the start and then make the most of the race pace. Getting into the points would be the maximum, but even that will be a very tough target to reach.”
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal:
“Our target today was to get at least one car through to Q3 and the other to Q2, but we did not succeed and we have to accept that our package just wasn’t quick enough in this qualifying session. Furthermore, if so many of our competitors continue to develop their cars, while we stopped doing so with ours several weeks ago, then the more time goes by, the more we will find ourselves in an ever more difficult situation. However, what really matters is the race result, where reliability is always the key factor, especially in a race that looks like being very tough and where all sorts of things could happen. Clearly, we will be trying to fight our way towards the front, which means it will be difficult to reach our minimum target of finishing in the top eight.”
Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer:
“A really difficult qualifying for us, even more so than we expected. We knew it would be tough, but we felt we could have made it through to the final part of the session. But honestly, today we did not have the performance to do that. Kimi did two good laps in Q2, but it was not enough. Tomorrow’s race will be very long, so let’s hope we can make up some places at the start and then try and get into the points.”
Nick Heidfeld (8th, Q3 - 1m 49.307s):
“Although it might appear nice to be in top ten again, as we have had worse results this season, I’m really disappointed. The car had improved and it all looked good in Q1 and in Q2. But in Q3 I could not use the advantage of the softer tyres because of the red flag. I had just started my fast lap and from the early corners it was clear to me it would be a huge improvement, but then Rubens Barrichello crashed and the session was red flagged. In hindsight it would have been better to use the softer tyres earlier, but of course you don’t want to sacrifice the advantage of the track being at its best in the last minutes of the session. That’s bad luck.”
Robert Kubica (9th, Q3 - 1m 49.514s):
“Of course our qualifying performance was influenced by the red flag caused by Rubens Barrichello’s accident. I think most of the drivers are in a similar situation. We used the harder tyre compound in our first run of the top ten qualifying. This cost us a lot of lap time - the prime tyres were about two tenths slower just in the first two corners compared to the softer compound. It will be a very difficult race tomorrow. The track is very challenging. It requires lots of traction and braking stability. Also physically the circuit is very demanding as there are a lot of corners and you are permanently fighting with the car. Tomorrow a lot will depend on tyre degradation and possible overheating.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport director:
“Qualifying brought some surprises. In Q1 with 20 cars on the track it was difficult to find a lap without traffic. Both our drivers were only able to get the right time to advance in Q2 on their second try. Also the way from Q2 into Q3 was anything but easy. Positions five to ten were only fractions of a second away from each other. In Q3 we saved our last set of soft tyres for the final run, but this was stopped by Rubens Barrichello’s accident. We were one of three teams today that made it with both cars into the top ten. For us it was only the second time this season we managed this. This confirms the positive trend and the work we all put into the new development package.”
Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering:
“Our comprehensive development package made us move a step forward. For the second time this year both our cars made it into the final qualifying session. Anyhow we are not satisfied with our qualifying positions, even though both Nick and Robert will move up the grid one place because a driver finishing in front will be penalized. Both drivers had to cancel their crucial final run in Q3 on the softer tyre compound due to Rubens Barrichello’s accident. Therefore both of them qualified in the final session only on the harder compound.”
Nico Rosberg matched his career-best qualifying result of P3 recorded in Malaysia in 2006 in a scintillating performance in Singapore tonight. Having set the fastest low fuel lap in Q2, he secured the third best time despite only having the benefit of one run in final qualifying and was midway through an improving lap when a red flag incident concluded the session. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima was close to his fourth appearance in the top ten shoot-out this season and held P10 until the dying seconds of the second qualifying session when he was edged out by just under two tenths of a second. He has, however, freedom on his fuel strategy for tomorrow’s night race.
Nico Rosberg:
It’s been a great day as it has been the result of some good work to change and adapt the set-up of the car in practice and even in Q1. Going into qualifying, it all came alive in Q2 and I got a super lap in. Although Q3 was not as easy on heavy fuel loads, I think we are seeing the benefit of a lot of development work that has gone into the car and I am really pleased for the whole team that we have made another step towards a podium finish and we may even be able to fight for a win sometime soon. P3 is a great position to start from tomorrow and I will be on the clean side of the track, which might prove to be important.
Kazuki Nakajima:
It was frustrating to be P11 and just miss out making it into Q3. The car had more potential if I had been able to find more from the tyre on warm up, but I had quite a few different points on the lap where I was struggling. That said, I think we have a good chance to score some points from where we are tomorrow.
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
It was a fantastic qualifying performance from Nico tonight with his true pace only shown in Q2 because of the red flag in Q3. So I’m really happy for him and expect him to race well tomorrow. Kazuki just missed the cut for Q3, but can race for points tomorrow with a good fuel strategy. We could see from yesterday’s practice that the FW31 upgrades were working well, so development is going in the right direction and well done to everybody in the team that has contributed to this progress.
Timo Glock (7th, Q3 - 1m 49.180s):
"I am happy to be back in the top 10 again. I like this track and I feel confident in the car set-up here. The sessions went well generally; particularly in second qualifying when I was straightaway a second faster than I had been in the first session. The car felt really good and it was nice to get through to third qualifying. My lap was okay in that session but I was on used options and they were a bit worn out. I was really looking forward to my last run on new options but the red flag destroyed it. I know I could have improved my lap time and who knows where that would have put me. But in the end I start from sixth so it looks pretty good. I hope we can have a clean first lap then try to finish in the top six. I will be fighting for as many points as possible."
Jarno Trulli (15th, Q2 - 1m 47.413s):
“The main problem for me was a lack of grip. The track conditions seem like they have improved but we couldn't improve our lap times enough from yesterday. I am not sure why because Timo looked strong but I just had no grip at all. The car didn't feel particularly good so we didn't quite get it right today unfortunately. Anything can happen in the race tomorrow and I will fight as hard as I can but it will be difficult to score points from 15th."
Pascal Vasselon, Toyota senior general manager chassis:
"As expected we are stronger here in Singapore than we were at the last race so it is disappointing not to get both cars into the top 10. Timo did a good job to get through first and second qualifying. In the end we are a bit frustrated that the final session ended early due to the red flag because he didn't have the chance to use his final set of new options so there was an opportunity to qualify even higher. The target for Timo is clearly a strong points finish but the race will be harder for Jarno. We need to analyse the grip problems he had and we will see what we can do with our strategy to recover some positions."
Adrian Sutil (16th, Q1 - 1m 48.231s):
“As we can see, we are still very quick on the straights and on the high speed circuits such as Spa and Monza, but here it is all about downforce. It's a very similar configuration to Monte Carlo, but about twice as long with twice as many corners and that's why we lost so much over one lap. We have had a problem with the grip level the whole weekend. I did expect us to be a little bit more competitive, but the field is very tight and if you lose out a bit in the traffic suddenly you are at the back. I lost some time on my fastest lap when Giancarlo was in front of me in the middle sector and I finished 16th. It's going to be difficult but let's see what we can do. It's a long race and anything is possible and we will still be giving it our best.”
Vitantonio Liuzzi (20th, Q3 - 1m 48.792s):
“We knew we would struggle more on this type of circuit compared to the low downforce tracks such as Spa and Monza but we didn't expect it would be this much. We were suffering with a lack of traction and weren't able to find the right balance - Adrian and I seem to have the same problems. My quickest lap was quite clean, perhaps there were a couple of tenths more in it, but to get through to Q2 this time would have been quite difficult. With more fuel on board we are quite competitive but from this point on the grid it will be tough. However at a circuit like this anything can happen and if we have a good pace in the race and a good balance we could still get some points. Street circuits are always a bit crazy so we won't give up just yet.”
Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal
“After the outstanding performance in Spa and Monza we were expecting more of a challenge this weekend for sure. We feel we have a car that is now amongst the quickest in the field but unfortunately in high downforce trim we are not seeing a reflection of this performance as teams that were behind us in Spa and Monza are ahead of us here. There are however only two extraordinarily high downforce tracks on the calendar - here and Monaco - so we cannot trade this improvement in performance for just one race. We are still looking forward to the Grand Prix, which is sure to be eventful, long and challenging and will try our best to continue our current run of points' scoring finishes. We are however anticipating a better performance at the more traditional tracks of Suzuka and Interlagos, which will be sure to suit us a lot better.”
Sebastien Buemi - 14th: "I am quite happy, as the session went smoothly without any mistakes. I got the most I could out of the car and am pleased to have got ahead of Trulli. I'm glad to finally be back in Q2, as it's been a long time. Now we need to work on a race strategy, make a good start and run the pit stops well."
Jaime Alguersuari - 17th: "We did quite well and we're getting faster. It was quite difficult better than that, but am feeling more comfortable with the track every time I get the car. This has been the hardest track have driven apart from Macau. With it being street circuit, anything could happen tomorrow, so hopefully can have a good race."
Laurent Mekies - (Chief Engineer): "We had a very difficult Friday and made a major change the car set-up overnight, which seems have been a step the right direction. Sebastien and Jaime also improved their performance. Jaime has got better throughout the weekend on a track that is difficult to learn and Sebastien is back Q2 after a gap of a few races. We're still not where we want to be, but having made a good step forward from Friday to today, there still room to make another one for the race, which is likely very chaotic, so anything can happen."
