Circuit de Catalunya
4.655kms / 2.892miles
Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri Bottas qualified fourth and Felipe Massa ninth for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix
• Valtteri drove a clean qualifying with consistent pace in all sessions to split the Ferraris in Q3 and start on the second row.
• After using two sets of option tyres to ensure his place in the top ten shootout, Felipe had just one timed lap in Q3, but a mistake in Turn 3 lost him time.
Q1
F. Massa: 1:27.165 (5th)
V. Bottas: 1:27.262 (6th)
Quickest Time: L Hamilton: 1:26.382
Q2
F. Massa: 1:26.147 (4th)
V. Bottas: 1:26.197 (6th)
Quickest Time: N Rosberg: 1:25.166
Q3
V. Bottas: 1:25.694 (4th)
F. Massa: 1:26.757 (9th)
Quickest Time: N Rosberg: 1:24.681
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We’ve brought some upgrades to this grand prix and today has shown that we have more than kept pace with our rivals, and perhaps moved a bit ahead of the teams that have been behind us. Seeing as this is a track that does not necessarily suit our car, the fact that we still have the Ferraris and Mercedes in our sights is very positive. Felipe lost a lot of time on his flying lap in Q3 after going off the track at Turn 3, which is a shame, but these things happen when you’re pushing hard. Valtteri starts in a strong position and our focus will be on trying to get a car home on the podium tomorrow.
Valtteri Bottas: It’s always a good feeling to split the Ferraris. We knew that if we got everything right we could be close and that’s what happened. It was pretty much the maximum we could do today. If we can get a good start and get the strategy right, then maybe we can have a repeat of Bahrain and keep one of the Ferraris behind us. We have improved the race pace in the past few weeks but we know Ferrari are still strong on long runs, so it’s up to us to do what we can to stay in front.
Felipe Massa: I’m disappointed because I made a mistake in Turn 3 on my flying lap in Q3, running off the track which lost me a lot of time. I had to use two sets of options in Q2 to make sure that I was safe, so that one timed lap in Q3 had to be it. Without that mistake I could have been in the top five. The car’s long run pace looked solid yesterday so provided we get a clean start I should be able to move forwards, so there is still a lot to play for tomorrow with a good amount of points on offer.
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