Brazil: Qualifications Seen from the Pits

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Pole position

Mark Webber – 4th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « Three tough qualifying sessions with changing weather. It was about navigating through the first two sessions to be in Q3. That’s when it started to get very wet. When they went out, both drivers decided to switch to intermediates very early, which gave them three laps each. Sebastian put in a fantastic lap on his first attempt to secure his 9th pole of the year with an impressive margin. Mark did the same during his last F1 qualifying session to start from the second row on the grid to secure two strong positions for the last race of the year. It’s incredible to think that Mark will be competing in his last Formula 1 race tomorrow. He has been with us for many years and has raced in 214 races in his career, which will become 215 tomorrow. He has already achieved nine wins, 41 victories, and 13 pole positions in Formula 1. He is a very fierce competitor, and I have no doubt he will try tomorrow to add to his impressive total of victories. »

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Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 2nd

Lewis Hamilton – 5th

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: Qualifying sessions like this offer a lot of potential to make mistakes, and the team did a great job today. Having both our cars in the top 5 is a good performance after such an unusual afternoon. Nico managed to get exactly what he wanted from the car in terms of rain settings and was very comfortable. Lewis wasn’t as comfortable but still managed to put in a solid lap to get into the top 5. Nobody has driven in the dry this weekend. So if it’s dry tomorrow, it will be an interesting experience for all of us. It creates potentials, and we will manage them as they arise to take full advantage of any opportunities that result.

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 3rd

Felipe Massa – 9th

Pat Fry, Technical Director: « It was a rather strange day, with most of the work concentrated in the afternoon. Due to the rain during the morning session, we decided to do only two installation laps with the aim of keeping as many sets of new tires as possible for qualifying and the race. With very changeable weather conditions and so much water on the track, the best choice was to take no risks, which turned out to be the right choice given the prolonged rain in the afternoon. During qualifying, the main difficulty was interpreting the track conditions: in Q1, we immediately managed to set good times with a set of intermediates while we used two sets of new intermediates in Q2. The increasingly bad weather delayed the start of Q3, where, before going out with the last set of intermediates, we had to go out with the extreme tires. I’m happy with the way the team worked in the pits, delaying our drivers’ entry onto the track so they were the last to cross the line. Fernando had a good lap and I think we can aim for a podium tomorrow. However, it’s really unfortunate for Felipe since he was not able to improve in the second and third sectors, but I’m sure that for his last race with Ferrari, he will try to make up for it tomorrow in front of his home crowd. In the race, it will be important to adapt as quickly as possible to the track conditions, which should be similar to today, with a 30% chance. »

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Lotus

Romain Grosjean – 6th

Heikki Kovalainen – 11th

Alan Permane, Track Operations Director: « Honestly? [A qualifying session] rather disappointing. The car performed well in the wet all weekend, so we were hoping for strong performances. Heikki was unlucky, he missed the top ten by very little and admitted to a few errors in his lap. In the last phase, we misjudged the timing when we called him back to the pits to fit the intermediates. It was the right tire choice, but we should have waited a little bit before sending him out with those tires.

We still have a good chance of achieving a great result. Both drivers were comfortable with the car in the rain today, and we know it performs well in dry conditions. If the weather is dry, everyone will go into the unknown, without information on the tires. This could play to our advantage, because we have a good baseline performance in the dry, and our tire management during the race is generally among the best on the grid.

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Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – 7th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 8th

Laurent Mekies, Performance Director: A long and complicated session for everyone, which ended with a very good overall result for us. 7th and 8th is our best qualifying of the year, and it’s the first time since Monza that we have both cars in Q3. We started off on the wrong foot, leaving a bit too late in the first stint, but both drivers improved in the second stint. Q2 went better. Daniel and JEV both adapted well to the changing conditions and made it to Q3. In the final part, we were up against very fast cars, and perhaps we had the potential to do a little better than 7th and 8th. However, we will be starting ahead of our mid-field rivals, which is important for us in the last qualifying of the year. I hope we can convert today’s good performance into many points tomorrow.

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Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 10th

Esteban Gutiérrez – 18th

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: « It’s a disappointing result today and it doesn’t reflect our performance over the weekend. We struggled to be competitive in the weekend’s conditions. Depending on the weather, this may change tomorrow. A dry race would be favorable for us. »

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Force India

Paul di Resta – 12th

Adrian Sutil – 16th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: « The wet weather persisted today with conditions gradually worsening throughout the qualifying hour. We managed Q1 beautifully with Paul and Adrian putting in solid laps on intermediates before the rain intensified. It was the same in Q2, as the rain continued to fall. We sent the cars out as soon as the lights turned green and Paul finished just three-tenths away from Q3. Adrian struggled more and was not confident as the track became wetter. He still has big questions concerning the weather [Sunday] and I think we can expect another unpredictable race where anything can happen. The priority is to ensure we stay out of trouble and do what we need to secure our position in the constructors’ championship. »

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Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 13th

Pastor Maldonado – 17th

Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer: In FP3, we continued to work on the rain and intermediate tires to make them work better in these conditions. We made progress, but the less water there was on the track, the better the car performed. In qualifying, we had both cars on track at the right time, with the right tires, but as the rain intensified, we struggled with grip. Valtteri was able to complete a better lap to advance to Q2, but as the water level on the track increased, 13th place was the best we could achieve today. There is always a chance that the race will be run in dry conditions [Sunday], which should suit us better, but whatever the conditions, we will fight to get both cars into the points.

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McLaren

Sergio Pérez – 14th

Jenson Button – 15th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: Obviously, qualifying 14th and 15th for the last Grand Prix of the season is very disappointing, even though what put us out were the unpredictable weather conditions. In Q1, however, we were 7th and 11th, which, while not exceptional, provided a more accurate reflection of our pace compared to our rivals. In Q2, the timing of our stints wasn’t really perfect, and as a result, we struggled to change tires when we needed to. In mixed conditions like we experienced today, the important thing is always to find that moment when the track will be in optimal conditions, and you can’t always get it right.

That being said, even if conditions are expected to be less rainy [on Sunday] than they were [on Friday and Saturday], it is unlikely that the weather will be dry and sunny all day. If that’s the case, there’s no doubt that Jenson and Checo can make good progress from their position on the grid when the five red lights go out and the race begins.

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Caterham

Charles Pic – 19th

Giedo Van der Garde – 20th

Caterham did not publish statements from team representatives.

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Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 21st

Max Chilton – 22nd

John Booth, Team Director: Once again, Interlagos provided us with a full day of running in the rain. Both our drivers were happier with the car’s balance this morning [Saturday] and with the used intermediate tires than yesterday [Friday]. Jules was more satisfied with his pace, while Max still needed to find the balance to gain more time. Qualifying was going to be tough anyway today, and the conditions were constantly changing during the lap. The first laps of the first stint were the fastest, but neither of our drivers managed a clean lap to seize that opportunity. We opted for a second stint, as we had nothing to lose. The conditions were such that the intermediates were right in their operating window; however, the standing water was significant, and we couldn’t improve. It’s a disappointing result today, but [Sunday] is the result that counts, and that’s what we’re focused on.

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