Saturday: Sutil and Sauber struggled during qualifying
For once, one of the Sauber drivers did not manage to pass Q1 and this time in Spain, it was Adrian Sutil who faced the setback. Esteban Gutiérrez, on the other hand, handicapped by problems on Friday, had to settle for 14th place on the grid.
Esteban Gutiérrez (no.21) – 18th and 14th [13th on the grid]
The Mexican had a complicated Friday and was unable to make up the accumulated delay, but he is still satisfied with his performance: « It was the best we could do today. Given the difficulties I had yesterday, the team did an excellent job of getting things back on track today. We still had issues to resolve, but being closer to our rivals is a motivation for us. »
But Gutiérrez knows that the hardest part is yet to come, the race: « Tomorrow will be a real challenge because the track temperature will probably be very high and the tires are difficult to manage in such conditions. As always, we will do our best. »
Adrian Sutil (No. 99) – 17th and 17th [16th on the grid]
The German hoped to be at least in Q2 but didn’t manage due to poor settings. However, he remains confident for the race: « Obviously, this is not the result I was hoping for. But that’s how things can go in qualifying. Unfortunately, we worked in the wrong direction today. During free practice 3, I struggled to get the tires up to temperature, but in qualifying, it was the opposite. The tires were overheating. We realized this after the second run and tried to improve things for the last run. We managed in a way, but everything was almost already decided, and we couldn’t change anything. I think it cost us about a second per lap and several positions. »
