Qualifying Notes
- George Russell qualified 18th and Robert Kubica 20th for the United States Grand Prix
- George set his best time, a 1:35.372, and Robert a 1:35.889 to finish P18 and P20
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: As we anticipated yesterday, the weather conditions were quite different today, helped by the relatively late sessions. The work we completed overnight was beneficial and both drivers were immediately happier with the car in FP3.
With conditions expected to be stable from FP3 to qualifying, we made minor alterations and gave each driver a Q1 programme which maximised their track time. This gave each the best opportunity to prepare their tyres and to push the car to the limit.
The team worked very well together to execute an excellent Q1 session and both drivers did a good job, making the most of their opportunity on this fantastic COTA track. We knew where the car would be today but, nonetheless, we worked very hard to maximise what we had. Based on high fuel running yesterday, we expect to be more competitive tomorrow and, like last weekend in Mexico, we will go into the race hoping to fight with both Haas and Alfa Romeo.
George Russell: I’m really enjoying driving the circuit and the conditions are warmer than yesterday. As the team predicted, we are further away than normal, and this track doesn’t suit our car at the moment. There was slightly more time on the table and getting the tyres in the optimum window on an evolving circuit is challenging, nevertheless it was a good lap. I’ll go out there tomorrow, have fun and gather more information for next year.
Robert Kubica: The track is really nice to drive and probably the best of the modern circuits. FP3 and my last quali run were good for me, but the gap to George is big. We made a few changes ahead of qualifying to help our race pace, so hopefully that will pay off tomorrow. Overall, it has been ok.
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