Turkish Grand Prix - Saturday
Ferrari
Turkish GP - Could have been better
It’s fair to say that Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was hoping to do a bit better than the third and fourth rows of the grid, given the encouraging performance in Monaco a fortnight ago. But, racing is about dealing with the cards you are dealt and so, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa still plan to aim for a good number of points tomorrow, even starting from sixth and seventh on the grid respectively. As has often been the case for our car, the main problem this afternoon was getting the most out of the tyres over one timed lap.
Sebastian Vettel took his second pole of the season, for Red Bull-Renault, securing the top spot in the closing moments of Q3, after it looked as though championship leader Jenson Button had pulled off another last minute top slot in the Brawn. These two teams monopolised the front two rows, as Rubens Barrichello took third place with Mark Webber fourth. Sharing the third row with Kimi is the fifth placed Toyota of Jarno Trulli, while Felipe shares Row 4 with Fernando Alonso in the Renault.
Strategy will be one of the key elements in tomorrow’s seventh round of the world championship, on a track where two refuelling stops is the norm, although three can sometimes be used, given the short length of the pit lane, the high pit lane speed limit and the fact that its entry cuts out the last corner on the track. Given the high temperatures, the cars will be subjected to extreme conditions. These can also affect the drivers, as the many high speed and long corners, put a strain on the drivers’ neck muscles. This is further aggravated by the fact that the majority of corners are left handed, which is not a common feature on the F1 calendar.
On Friday night, Kimi and Felipe attended an event held against a spectacular backdrop of the Bosphorus, when around 500 guests were invited by the Turkish Ferrari importer to the Les Ottomans Hotel. The two drivers took part in a Question and Answer session, having arrived by helicopter and then boat to get there in time from the race track after their technical briefing sessions.
Qualifying session
F. Massa: 7th 1.28.858 7 Laps
K. Raikkonen: 6th 1.28.815 7 Laps
Chassis: F. Massa 276, K. Raikkonen 279
Weather: air temperature 28 °C, track temperature 45/44 °C, sunny.
Sixth and seventh places for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s two F60s in qualifying for the fifth running of the Turkish Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa respectively. “This was a reasonable qualifying, even if it did not quite come up to our expectations,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “From what we saw over the course of the day, we can say that we did not get the maximum out of the potential available to us, especially in Q3. Having said that, we can expect a very tough and open race: we have a good strategy and we will try to exploit that to pick up a good result.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “In qualifying the car was better balanced than in free practice but, even on a light fuel load, today we were a bit slower than the best. All weekend we have struggled a bit to get the tyres working at their best on the first lap. For sure, starting from the dirty side of the grid won’t be easy, especially on a track like this, which is hardly ever used for racing, which means the track surface offers little grip off the racing line. We have made progress recently, but the others have also done the same, which is what always happens.”
Felipe Massa: “On low fuel, the car was well balanced and had good grip, while once we had the race fuel on board, the situation got worse and we suffered oversteer, mainly on the softer tyre. Honestly, I’d expected to start higher up the grid, especially as we were pretty competitive in Q1 and Q2. Starting from seventh, it becomes tough to aim for the top, so we have to be realistic. However, we mustn’t forget this will be a long race and anything can happen. As usual, I will give it my best shot.”
Chris Dyer: “It was a very close qualifying, especially at the top end of the time sheet. The cars ran trouble free all day: the major difficulty concerned tyre choice. In the end, we opted for the softer compound and all in all, we believe that was the right choice, even if the difference in performance between the two over the first timed lap was not as marked as on other occasions.”
FIA post-qualifying press conference - Turkey
Drivers: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 28.316s; 2. Jenson Button (Brawn GP), 1m 28.421s; 3. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP), 1m 28.579s
Q: Sebastian, a great day for you. The first driver this year to be quickest in all three sessions, timing your last run in Q3 to the very last second.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, so I mean after yesterday especially in Friday practice we had an engine failure and we were not able to do a lot of laps but still I had a good feeling for the car and I was quite confident for today. It is quite a surprise now to be quickest in all sessions and obviously a great day today and I am very pleased. Finally we made it. The last couple of races we tried very hard and finally we are ahead of these white guys. Thanks for the team and again a great job also in the factory as some of the parts arrived at the last minute, so it was quite an effort to fix them to the car. But we did it and they are working, so everything is positive. Let’s see tomorrow.
Q: Jenson, it looked like another well paced weekend so far. A lot of the drivers were complaining about the grip level and you were a little bit in the background but again in qualifying you are on the front row of the grid.
Jenson Button: Yeah, yesterday was a tough day for everyone I think. It was so windy and I just could not get a balance to the car in those conditions. But immediately today with some changes to the set up and also the wind calmed down the car just seemed to be much better. And I got more to grips with the car and we worked all through the day. It is nice to be on front row and it’s a great place to be for tomorrow. Obviously well done to Sebastian for pipping us and it is great that we have got a lot of competition out there. It is not just the Red Bulls and the Brawns but also the Ferraris are quick as well and the Toyotas, so it is good.
Q: Rubens, consistent as we say. Talk us through qualifying from your point of view.
Rubens Barrichello: Qualifying went great. I had a bit of a worry in Q2 because I had a used set and when I put a new set on I had a bit of traffic, so I wasn’t sure if I would have made it. I was seventh, but on the tenth that everyone had, but luckily I was in front. Q3 went quite well. I chose to use the prime tyres and I think it was a good choice but you never know which one is the better one in those conditions. I had three laps. I wish I could have pushed a little bit more on the second lap but I had traffic again as timing on this final qualifying is everything and there were lots of cars coming out of the pits while I was on my lap already. But very well, very well. Everything is so close and I have a good car and I am quite happy.
Q: Sebastian, your thoughts going into the race tomorrow. A lot of work as you say going on back at the base. A new aerodynamic configuration on the back of the car. Where do you think the car is and I say this in the context that you’ve always won when you’ve been on pole.
SV: We will try our best to keep this statistic alive but it won’t be easy. I think we have a very good chance here with a very god car. I expected more difficulties in qualifying, so I mean it wasn’t easy but we made it. I think we have a very good race car for tomorrow, so I’m looking forward. Obviously it is the best position to start from. Also in terms of the grip level I think there is quite an advantage to be on the clean side, so let’s see tomorrow. This is just half-way and the main task for us comes tomorrow. It is a very long race here, very tough. It will be very hot, so for both drivers and cars it won’t be an easy one but it will be very exciting, so let’s see.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your second pole this year and, of course, you are probably aware that every pole winner has always won here in the four grands prix we have had so far.
SV: I wasn’t here four years ago. Yeah, I mean I am in obviously the best position to start from and I’m very happy, very pleased especially after a difficult day yesterday with not a lot of laps. But I had a good feeling. We had quite some new bits and they arrived at the last minute, so it was quite a job to put them on the car. The boys were working hard again. It is a tough season but obviously with these kinds of results it is the best to show them that we are going in the right direction, so I am very pleased. Today’s qualifying was quite difficult. I think we do have a very competitive car in the race. I was not that confident in qualifying but then going through Q1 and Q2 I had a better and better feeling, so in Q3 I was quite confident to be up there at the front. Again it was very tight but finally we made it and put the car on pole again.
Q: How much were you playing catch up after yesterday because you started practice quite late as well and didn’t do many laps in the first session and then, of course, very few in the second.
SV: Yes, it’s true. Both sessions. Free practice one and free practice two. Just because the parts arrived so late and we were basically putting them to the car and it isn’t always easy and we started a bit with a delay but there was no problem. The biggest problem then was to do only four laps. But nevertheless I think we have found a very good car. We have worked overnight and made some changes and they all seemed to work. Also this morning we were more focussing on Sunday, on the race, whereas usually you try to prepare qualifying and that is why we were not that confident for qualifying. But it worked, so very good.
Q: How difficult was the tyre choice as it seemed after free practice three this morning that no-one was certain which was the quicker of the tyres.
SV: I think still you can argue. The hard tyres seem to work surprisingly well. If you look at the times from Q1 to Q2 they were not massively quicker and that is unusual, so the circuit did improve but it didn’t do the usual step, so that was quite a bit of a surprise. Therefore I think it is not certain which tyre in the end to choose. We relied mostly on the option which I think was the right choice but I don’t think there was much in between them.
Q: Jenson, your record of starting seventh and finishing fourth is the best of all three of you but you have finished all four races, so what are your feelings about this circuit?
JB: I enjoy this circuit and that’s why I found it tough when we arrived here and we did not have a good balance. When one person in the team has got a god car and is doing good lap times it is okay as you sort of know the time is in the car and you have just got to find it. I think Rubens and myself we did not have the best day yesterday and we were not really sure where the pace was but we found it today and it is good to be up there at the front. It is a pity we could not get pole but you are always going to say that when you are starting P2 but I am very happy to be where I am and looking forward to the race. We all love statistics and as you say every pole position man here has won. We are going to try and change that tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. I think this is a circuit where you can have a lot of fun and you can overtake and it should be a good race to watch hopefully.
Q: With first and fourth on the grid Red Bull really do look like a threat, don’t they?
JB: Yeah, it has been like that most races except for Monaco. The races before that it was the same. I think these guys are doing a very good job and we are also. It is down to getting the best out of the equipment and getting the best team effort tomorrow. That is what will win the race and we have got to wait and see who that is.
Q: A mystery for the tyres also with you.
JB: After practice this morning it was quite difficult to choose which tyres to run in qualifying. I think we made the right choice for myself. On the prime I didn’t really have a very good feeling. It was very twitchy and not what I like. The option tyre would get oversteer but it was sort of more gradual, a bit more of a rolling feeling and I preferred that, so that is the tyre we went with and we did the right thing staying with it in Q3 and not chopping and changing and I could just get on with my work and do the best I could.
Q: Rubens, yesterday you were saying you were suffering in the first sector. Presumably you have mastered that now.
RB: Yeah, I think it has been a good job since last night with everything. The car this morning felt a lot better. I think the track may have come towards us a little bit but all in all the car feels a lot better. This morning we could feel that already and it was a question of trying which tyre to see what was next. As you could see I qualified on prime and Jenson qualified on the option. It is difficult to see which one was the better one. I had a better feeling through high speed (corners) with the prime. It was a little bit more slippery than I predicted but all in all it was still a good qualifying. We were just playing with each other that we don’t know which one is better - starting second here or third. I hope it is third.
Q: The position of the grid is a factor, isn’t it?
RB: Yeah, because here you don’t have a lot of&ldots; in fact I’ve been told that there are no races at all. This is the only event of the year. We’ve been passing on the main straight on the right, that’s the only clean line. Although I like Jenson very much, I hope my side is a lot cleaner than his.
JB: If any of you want to get your road cars out, do some starts, you’re more than welcome.
Q: There’s a couple of journalists running round, would that help?
JB: I’m not sure that helps too much.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Sebastian, each time you did a lap this afternoon, you set the fastest time. Can you explain how you do that? Is it easy from the inside?
SV: I disagree, I think in Q2 on the first run I was second, if I remember rightly. Again, it was difficult after yesterday, we didn’t have a lot of laps and basically I was relying on the feeling I had. I was quite happy, we made some changes and I think that that shows that even without a lot of running we are able to do the right thing, so that speaks for us. I think we are in the right direction, it’s good now to be ahead of those two but qualifying is nice, pole position is very nice and the main thing comes tomorrow. There are no points for today.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) For all three drivers: this morning Ferrari seemed to be faster than we saw in qualifying. Are you expecting them to be a little heavier than you?
SV: I don’t know. I was also surprised because we expected them to be more competitive. Maybe they are much heavier, I don’t know, but in the end it’s good because I start from first and I think Kimi is sixth, so no KERS car in my back this time. That’s a good feeling already. As for everything else, we have to sit down. Obviously we just got out of the car and I saw the final results. I don’t know which tyres they have used, maybe they struggled. I don’t know. I don’t think it was an easy session, this qualifying, not an easy, usual, straightforward session because the circuit picked up grip but not as much as it usually does, so it’s difficult to say, also with the tyres being so close to each other.
JB: Also, they weren’t as quick in Q1 and Q2 as we expected, so I don’t think it’s just fuel load, personally. But this morning they were massively quick. I was surprised at Massa’s times but it seems strange that they are not there now. Maybe their car is not working so much in qualifying form.
RB: Nothing to add. Before the weekend, I was expecting that they would be very fast and they proved this morning that they were but in qualifying, as Jenson said, it didn’t seem to have that last bit of pace, so lucky us.
Q: (Rodrigo Franca - VIP Magazine) Question to Jenson and Rubens: tomorrow will be the seventh race of the season and Brawn GP is still the team to be beaten in Formula One. Did you expect to be in this position since in December you had no team, no future with everything going on, Honda leaving Formula One?
JB: This could be a very long answer. You’ve probably heard it a few times. At the end of last year we didn’t know what to expect. And when we realised in March that we were racing, we were very happy. We knew that we had a competitive car but you never know how competitive. The bit that amazes me is not the speed of the car – the speed of the car is very impressive but it’s how the team has done a&ldots; they haven’t put a foot wrong under pressure whereas maybe other teams have and that’s the reason why we’ve been so competitive and so consistent I think. So we’ve got to stay in that mindset, stay positive and focused. As soon as you start relaxing, it all goes to pot, so you’ve got to stay focused and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.
RB: Well, every time I talked to the team during November, December, they seemed to be so happy with how much they got back in terms of downforce and how much happier they were with a different engine, just for the sake of having something different. We knew it was going to be competitive but if you’d asked me, honestly, what I thought, going to the first race, I thought competitive would mean fifth or sixth. From someone who was starting 13th or 14th, it was that much better and then we could conquer more. But it was impressive from the first lap. Jenson was able to drive it first and after four laps I went to ask him and he said ‘yeah, we’re going to have a good season’ and I believed him. So when I drove the car, it was a fairly good feeling.
Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto Motor und Sport) Rubens, you only had one outing. Was it clear from the beginning that you needed three laps to bring the tyres to grip? If you had started a little bit earlier, might a fourth lap have been even faster?
RB: That could be an argument, because I question&ldots; this morning the fourth lap was better than the third lap but in qualifying, four laps is a bit difficult. You have cars going around and basically I lost the first two laps today, due to the fact that I had traffic, so I pushed on the third lap and that was fine but the balance wasn’t as good as I expected, so maybe the fourth lap could have been better. I wish we knew how much it was from one&ldots;
SV: You would also have had less fuel.
RB: Exactly, I would have had less fuel as well. All in all, I wish to know how much was in the tyres but I think it’s very, very close. I just don’t know if my ones are better or not. I had a good qualifying with a little bit of understeer and I heard that those guys had a good qualifying with a bit of oversteer, so it’s a bit of a non-situation.
Q: (Heinz Pruller) Sebastian, did you know how many seconds you had in hand to cross the line in time to have an extra lap?
SV: No, I didn’t, I didn’t know. Was it tight? Was it? It worked.
Q: (Balazs Vajta - Autosport es Formula) Two questions for Rubens: the first one is you started out not as quick in Q3, you really did your quickest lap on the last lap. Was this due to the hard tyre or pure traffic? And secondly, you and Jenson seem like perfect brothers. After every race you are hand-in-hand but you are second most of the time, so how big is the pressure on you now to beat him finally?
RB: First question; it was a bit of both, it was the tyre, I knew the first lap wasn’t going to be the faster one but I had traffic as well. I pushed a little harder on the second lap but I had traffic again, so the third lap was the only one when I could achieve something.
You know, as much as I love Jenson as a friend, I hate him as a driver, so it’s very, very simple. We get on very well. I think it’s a fantastic pairing for the team. We are working well together and as you said, if you take Q2 for example I’m in front of him and then Q3 he was able to do the job. Today I couldn’t say I had a problem with this or that. You never know what the tyres might have done for me but with me it’s my determination. People might have this feeling that because I was second to Schumacher, that I will finish second to him, but I will fight him very, very hard. This time we work well for the team, there are no choices, no sad options like I used to have at Ferrari and this time I just have to conquer and I hope it starts tomorrow.
Q: (Paulo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, from your words, you seem to be as confident as you were in China. Could we see something like we saw there with you dominating this race or do you think it’s going to be a little bit tougher?
SV: Yes, I think I was confident in China but it didn’t help at all because the day after it was raining, so it was a re-set. OK, it was a very good race for us, obviously we got along well with the conditions but we couldn’t show how good we would probably have been in the dry, so we had no answer to that one. Now we are in a similar position, I think. Tomorrow it should be dry, most likely, you never know but as far as I understand, quite hot and dry, so it should be a dry race and let’s see how we get on tomorrow. I don’t think you can do more than pole position on Saturday; we did so, so that’s positive, but again, there’s no reason to be too excited. I think we have done our homework so far but the main demands come tomorrow when we have to race 58 laps around here.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Sebastian, how important is this pole compared to the other two and were you expecting it when you came here on Thursday?
SV: It’s always difficult to know what to expect. I think this circuit is quite different compared to the last couple of circuits, especially Monaco. It’s probably more similar to Barcelona and in Barcelona we were in good shape as well, so here we are again. I think a pole is always important. You can speak to the man on the right (Jenson). I think he had the pleasure to have the most pole positions this year and yeah, he always won the races, so it’s essential, it’s the best position to start from and let’s see. It’s a long day tomorrow. For sure it won’t be easy, it will be a tough fight against those two and also the guys behind because we do not know about the fuel loads yet, so we will see tomorrow.
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 Turkish Grand Prix,
sorted by qualifying position.
1. Sebastian
Vettel RBR Renault 649.5
2. Jenson
Button Brawn Mercedes 655.5
3. Rubens
Barrichello Brawn Mercedes 652.5
4. Mark Webber
RBR Renault 656.0
5. Jarno Trulli
Toyota 652.0
6. Kimi
Raikkonen Ferrari 658.0
7. Felipe Massa
Ferrari 654.0
8. Fernando
Alonso Renault 644.5
9. Nico Rosberg
Williams Toyota 660.0
10. Robert
Kubica BMW Sauber 664.0
11. Nick
Heidfeld BMW Sauber 681.5*
12. Kazuki
Nakajima Williams Toyota 680.4*
13. Timo Glock
Toyota 689.0*
14. Heikki
Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 665.0*
15. Adrian
Sutil Force India Mercedes 668.5*
16. Lewis
Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 696.5*
17. Nelson
Piquet Renault 689.6*
18. Sebastien
Buemi STR Ferrari 686.5*
19. Giancarlo
Fisichella Force India Mercedes 688.5*
20. Sebastien
Bourdais STR Ferrari 701.0*
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel - 1st: "We have a good car here and a good chance for the race. I expected to face more difficulties in qualifying today, I mean it wasn't easy, but we made it to pole. We now have the best position to start from and it's definitely an advantage to be on the clean side of the track in terms of grip level. This is just the half-way point though, the main task comes tomorrow. It's a long race here, very tough and very hot so it won't be easy for the cars or the drivers - but it should be exciting. I'm looking forward to it."
*Mark Webber - 4th: "That was a good qualifying session for us, I'm happy with how Q3 went and it's put us in a reasonable position for the start of the race. We're also on the right-hand side of the grid, which is good. I don't think I could have finished much further up. I'm happy with the performance of the car, it worked well today and I'm aiming for a podium tomorrow. The team did a good job today."
*Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A good team performance; both drivers delivered very good qualifying laps hitting their target times and it puts us in a strong position for tomorrow's race. It was a good recovery for Sebastian who lost track time yesterday. Once again the Brawns are extremely quick here, but Ferrari and Toyota are also a challenge so it should be an interesting race tomorrow."
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: "A superb result and a pole position! As in China, it seems that Sebastian is very good in the face of adversity – he did a very small number of laps yesterday due to an engine failure, but today he gets pole position, so thank you to him. Mark was very strong and his final lap in Q3 was impressive given his fuel load. He has a good start position and, as the Ferraris are not right behind us with their KERS, I think we can aim for a good result tomorrow."
Toro Rosso
Turkey Saturday quotes: Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi - 18th: "We had a very tough time, especially with the soft compounds, as we were never able to get the most out of them. So the best thing we can do now is think hard about the race and ensure we have the best possible strategy. It will be a difficult afternoon, starting so far back and managing the tyres, specifically the inevitable degradation on the front right. Okay, starting eighteenth I'm not really thinking of a points finish, but we will still give it our best shot."
Sebastien Bourdais - 20th: "All I know is that we lack grip and we are off the pace, even being two tenths off Seb (Buemi.) My first run wasn't too bad, but I had degradation on my next one. Then we changed the tyre pressures a bit, but it seemed that as the session developed the Option began to work better and I was running the Prime which we felt suited us better. We've gone backwards a bit this weekend which is hard to take. In the race, I don't think the difference between the tyres will be that much and in any case, it's not just the tyres that are our problem this weekend."
Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): "Overall, we have been struggling for pace all weekend, especially on the Option tyres, which showed up clearly in qualifying. The two drivers had different tyre tactics this afternoon, with Buemi only running the Option, aiming to finally make it work, while with Bourdais we concentrated on the Prime. We tried different set-up solutions across both cars through the weekend but nothing gave us the pace we were aiming for. We have to look at the data to try and understand the reason. Nevertheless, the weekend isn't over and we have a long and hot race ahead of us, when we will be pushing very hard to do as well as possible."
Renault
*Fernando Alonso - 8th: "I have mixed feelings from this qualifying session. Q2 was really difficult and we only just made it through to Q3 in tenth position, but our level of performance and lack of pace meant we could only manage eighth on the grid, which is a bit disappointing. Unfortunately I will start from the dirty side of the track, which will make the start of the race difficult, but I still hope that I can challenge for some good points in the race."
*Nelson Piquet - 17th: "I knew I had a brake problem from the beginning of qualifying and so I was being cautious, but it wasn't easy as the track was so slippery. On the last run the problem got worse and I spun off. However, I will remain positive for tomorrow as this is a track with good overtaking opportunities and hopefully we can have a strong race."
*Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "Nelson dropped out of qualifying after loosing a brake duct which overheated his brakes and caused him to spin. We had hoped for a slightly higher position for Fernando after second qualifying but bearing in mind our fuel load we are not in a bad position for the race."
Brawn GP
Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualified their Brawn-Mercedes cars in second and third positions today ahead of Sunday’s 58-lap Turkish Grand Prix at the Istanbul Park Circuit.
After working hard overnight to make significant changes to the set-up of the cars, both Jenson and Rubens were happier with the balance which reflected in their running at the front for much of Q1 and Q2 as they fine-tuned their set-up and evaluated the tyre choices for the final qualifying session.
Q3 saw an intense battle at the front with Rubens switching to the prime tyre and completing one run of five laps, setting his best time on his final flying lap to take third position. Sticking to the softer option tyre, Jenson completed two runs to set provisional pole at the end of the session before being just edged out of the top spot by Sebastian Vettel.
RESULTS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Qualifying 3
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 P7 P2 01:27.355 P3 01:27.230 P2 01:28.421
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 P6 P3 01:27.371 P7 01:27.418 P3 01:28.579
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 28-29°C Track: 45-47°C
JENSON BUTTON
“With the changes to the set-up that we made overnight, the car felt much better today and we were really able to get to grips with improving the pace. It’s great to be starting on the front row, although of course I would prefer to be on pole, but Sebastian did a great job. It was quite difficult to choose between the tyres today as their performance was quite similar. The prime was a little too twitchy for my liking so I continued to run the option tyre for Q3 which had a more gradual and rolling feel. It should be a good race tomorrow as I really enjoy this circuit and you can overtake here so there will hopefully be some good battles out on the track. We will be trying very hard to change the statistic that everyone who has started from pole here has won the race”
*RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“The team has done a great job since the practice sessions yesterday to make improvements and the car felt immediately better this morning. Qualifying went really well although I did have a worrying moment in Q2 when traffic affected my second run and the times were so close between the top eleven drivers. The main question in qualifying today was trying to understand which tyre performed better. I had a better feeling through the high-speed corners with the prime tyre and it was the best choice for me so I went for just the one run on the primes in Q3. I lost my first two flying laps to traffic but the third lap was really good. I have the advantage of starting from the clean side tomorrow so will be aiming for a good start and take it from there.”
ROSS BRAWN
“A real team performance today to turn around what was an uncharacteristically challenging Friday for us. A lot of hard work overnight from the drivers, engineers and technicians, both here and at the factory in Brackley, resolved the issues that we faced and gave us the pace to that we needed to compete at the front in qualifying. Jenson and Rubens had different preferences for the tyres today so we adopted two very different strategies for Q3, both of which paid off with top three grid positions. We know that the car performs well with fuel so that gives us confidence for the race tomorrow.”
Bridgestone
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today's running?
"Today we saw a very close and exciting qualifying session. Deciding which compound to use and getting the correct set-up was the biggest task. The track condition was improved from yesterday and it was hotter and there was less wind. This meant that several factors had changed, so competitors faced a big challenge. The soft Bridgestone proved faster than the hard compound, but the difference was only slight. The soft tyre still shows more graining than the hard and this was a factor today."
What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow's race?
"Management of the soft Bridgestone will be the primary consideration for many. The hard compound looks to deliver good consistent performance and the lap time difference between it and the softer tyre is not as much as we have seen for most of the races so far this year. So far our data regarding Turn Eight has not highlighted any problems, however tomorrow will see race stints with heavier fuel loads so we remain vigilant."
Williams
Today’s qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix at the purpose-built Istanbul Park circuit saw AT&T Williams’ Nico Rosberg keep up his season-long run of Q3 performances, setting the ninth fastest time of the session’s deciding round. Team mate Kazuki Nakajima secured the 12th quickest time of the afternoon and will therefore take a place on the sixth row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
*Nico Rosberg:
It really wasn’t easy to choose between the soft and the hard compound to do your fastest lap on today, or to keep a balanced car while changing between the two. I ended up with some understeer and maybe a lost a position because of that, but I’m on the clean side of the grid tomorrow, which will help us to get a good start and maybe gain some positions. Since we also have a good race car, we will be targeting points, which is important for us as a team.
Kazuki Nakajima:
It was fairly a difficult qualifying session as the tyre choice was quite hard. We weren’t entirely sure whether the prime or the option would be better as there wasn’t much in it between the two and this morning’s practice didn’t really clarify things. In Q1, I struggled with the option so we selected the prime for Q2, but unfortunately that wasn’t much of an improvement and I didn’t get the performance I wanted. It’s going to be difficult to get into the points, but P12 is ok and I will be fighting hard.
*Sam Michael, Technical Director:
Q1 and Q2 were ok for both drivers, with Nico setting a time just four tenths shy of the fastest time in Q2. When the fuel went in for Nico’s Q3 run, we weren’t quite as strong as we wanted to be but we’ll find out what fuel loads everyone else will be running later this evening. I’m sure both drivers will be in a position to fight for points from their grid slots though. We didn’t have any reliability issues and the improvements we’ve made to the car are working. Again, the competition is fierce as can be seen from how close the times are.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica (10th, Q3 - 1m 29.357s):
“Starting from P10 is definitely better than starting from P18 the way I did in Monaco. However, we still lack a bit of pace compared to the top cars. The track clearly suits our car better than the Monaco track did. However, we really have to fight tomorrow. Although the gap to the lead cars is quite close, there are a lot of cars between us and the front row. It will be difficult.”
*Nick Heidfeld (11th, Q2 - 1m 27.521s):
“I have mixed feelings about today’s qualifying. On one hand it is annoying to miss the top ten qualifying by such a margin, but on the other I’m happy to see the progress we’ve made. The car was quick enough for Q3. I was seventh overall before my final outing in Q2 but then I was stuck in traffic on the last sector of my out lap. Given how the 2009 tyres are, this is enough to prevent them from heating up properly and consequently ruin your flying lap. Our new aero package with the double diffuser is obviously a step forward. This is not only compared to Monaco, but also to Barcelona where I scored two points after starting 13th on the grid.”
*Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport director:
“We produced a solid performance in today’s qualifying. Obviously, our goal was, to get both cars into Q3, which didn’t quite work out. Today, once again, the whole field was very close. Nick missed Q3 by just five hundreds of a second, and Robert was finally tenth. What this means in terms of the race we will only see once we know the competitors’ strategy. On the positive side, in Q2, when all the drivers were running in the same conditions, the gap to the front runners was only just 0.4 of a second. This proves the new aero package has had a positive effect.”
Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering:
“Today‘s result confirms we have made a step in the right direction. However, if we want to fight for the top positions we have to bring updates of the same magnitude to the next races. Yesterday we were able to find a basic set-up for the new aero package, which was also important for the ongoing development of the car. For Robert and Nick it will not be easy to score points tomorrow.”
Toyota
*Jarno Trulli (5th, Q3 - 1m 28.666s):
"I am happy with this good result, especially after the difficult time we had during the last race weekend. We have made big improvements and it is nice to be back at the front where we belong. The tyre situation was a little tricky today because I was very quick on the hard tyre while I didn't feel I got the most out of the soft option. We need to analyse that to give us the best possible chance tomorrow I'm fired up and looking forward to the race. We were not far off pole position which is very encouraging and gives us high expectations for the race tomorrow. Obviously it is a long race and it's difficult to predict what will happen, but I will be fighting to finish on the podium."
Timo Glock (13th, Q2 - 1m 27.795s):
"That was not an easy session for me and it is disappointing to be out of the top 10. This morning we were quick and the set-up felt really good, so I was happy with the car going into qualifying. But when we put the option tyres on with a light fuel load the car had some oversteer and it didn't feel exactly like it did in the morning. We were still competitive and expecting to get into the top 10 but on my final lap of Q2 I made a mistake in the last sector and that was it; I lost time and didn't qualify where I expected. But it's easier to overtake here than in Monaco so I won't give up on the race."
Pascal Vasselon, Toyota senior general manager chassis:
"We are clearly having a better weekend than we did in Monaco which is a credit to the huge team effort to understand our issues from that weekend and bring new parts here. Nevertheless, we cannot be completely satisfied with this qualifying result. We missed out on getting both cars in the top 10 which is a pity, especially as we had very high hopes for that before qualifying. Unfortunately Timo made a mistake in the last sector when he was on for a competitive lap time, which explains his grid position. Jarno performed very well throughout and it is pleasing to be back at the right end of the grid. Naturally we want to fight for the podium here so we aimed a little higher than fifth, but it didn't happen so now we are looking to maximise our chances in the race. The tyre situation here is extremely interesting and quite unusual, with the hard and soft tyres offering very similar grip characteristics. This makes tyre choice more of a challenge and we are likely to see some different strategies in the race."
Force India
Adrian Sutil - 15th: "It was a really good qualifying session for us and I am very happy with the 15th place and Q2 again for the second race in a row. We didn't expect it as we had a few little issues in the weekend so far but we managed a good lap when it mattered. I am happy for the team and I think we can be really proud right now. I'm looking forward to a good race now tomorrow, we'll see what we can do."
Giancarlo Fisichella - 19th: "I have had a problem with the brakes today and have had some front locking since this morning, but we made some changes between FP3 and qualifying that helped. Then unfortunately on my best lap there was a yellow flag as Piquet had spun and I had to lift off and couldn't get the time back. It was possible to be in the top 15, but there you go - sometimes it goes for you and others not. For sure the soft tyres are going to be a bit tricky tomorrow, especially in the heat, but I hope we can have a good race from where we are on the grid."
*Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "We're obviously very pleased to be in Q2 for the second event in a row with Adrian. He simply drove a very good and clean qualifying and showed how much our performance is improving now. Giancarlo had a brake system problem this morning that was still causing some consistency issues in qualifying and we need to look carefully at this before the race. He is also clearly fast enough to race in the midfield. A hot race is forecast with another different tyre performance scenario likely and we are looking forward to it."
HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
MP4-24-03
P3 programme
19 laps/1m28.738s (15th)
Three runs this morning, evaluating both Prime tyre (three laps/1m29.264s and three laps/1m28.738s) and Option (four laps/1m28.857s) ahead of qualifying. Reporting similar locking and rear-end instability issues as yesterday, the team worked throughout the session to hone the balance to Heikki's satisfaction.
"I was pushing to the maximum this morning," he said. "But I flat-spotted the left-front on one run and was always trying to cope with the snappiness of the rear-end. Through Turn Eight, the car was very difficult to drive smoothly."
Qualifying
Q1 1m28.199s (14th)
Q2 1m28.207s (14th)
Q3 -
Two strong runs of 1m28.199s and 1m28.629s in Q1 on the Prime saw Heikki move into the second session in 14th. Into Q2, he did two more runs (1m28.318s and 1m28.207s) to finish the session 14th overall.
"Our car doesn't have enough grip for us to attack the fast corners," Heikki said. "The others seem to gain grip through the weekend and are able to better use the Option tyre while we're using the Prime and losing performance. Braking and acceleration are still very good but we're just losing grip as the track temperature increases.
"The gap to the leaders is still too big so we need to do some more work back at the MTC to move closer to the front. We'll never give up, but tomorrow's race will be difficult."
LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-04
P3 programme
19 laps/1m28.563s (12th)
Three morning runs for Lewis too. He initially reported that the front felt well-balanced but, throughout the session, he continued working with his engineers to get the car's rear-end to operate more effectively. He ran the following programme: four laps/1m28.563s/Prime; three laps/1m28.736s/Prime; three laps/1m28.944s/Option.
Lewis said: "The car felt great this morning - it was very well-balanced at the front but we still had to work to get the rear working properly. We anticipated this weekend would be a bit like Barcelona and that looks like being the case."
Qualifying
Q1 1m28.318s (16th overall)
Q2 -
Q3 -
Struggling for grip on both the Option and Prime tyre, Lewis completed two runs, setting times of 1m28.318s and 1m28.402s to conclude the first qualifying session in 16th.
"Our car seems to have got slower relative to the others as the grip has gone down on the track," said Lewis afterwards. "I pushed as hard as I could today but I just had no grip out there. We now need to make sure we don't rush into making too many changes to the car for the forthcoming races: we'll take our time, refine things and sort out the problem with our car. The team has done a fantastic job though: they really have been working night and day with the same determination and drive as ever. This is clearly going to be a challenging year for us, but I have no doubts that we'll bounce back."
MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
"At the risk of stating the obvious, today's qualifying session was a pretty disappointing one for us. Having said that, we didn't allow our pace yesterday to cause us to be unduly optimistic about our prospects for today and tomorrow, simply because we'd been aware for some time that our car wouldn't perform particularly well on the Istanbul Park circuit's higher-speed corners. Even so, with hindsight, perhaps we should have run Option tyres for Heikki's second run in Q2 - some drivers did so and went faster as a result. On the other hand, other drivers stayed on Primes for their second Q2 runs and posted quick times on them. The fact is that, such is the level of competitiveness all through the field in modern-day Formula 1, it's very difficult to get into Q3 if your car is in any way sub-optimal."
NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"A poor result which reveals our weakness in fast sections. Whilst we are with the frontrunners in the final sector, with its long straight and tight corners, we lost more than a second around the rest of the circuit. It looked better yesterday, but today we have to accept the reality. We all need to work very hard to make sure that our level of competitiveness will improve sooner rather than later and that we come back to where we used to be."
