Sunday: A race to forget for Marussia
As expected after the qualifying, both Marussias struggled in the race. Jules Bianchi finished 16th, just ahead of his teammate Max Chilton, far behind their Caterham rivals.
Jules Bianchi – 16th:
« It was a very difficult race today. We struggled with the balance all the time and worked tremendously hard to conserve the rear tires. The 70 laps were a real battle, to be honest. On a more positive note, we were reliable during a race that is very demanding on the car, and we managed to bring both cars to the finish again. I thank the team for the good work done, especially today with the pit stops and high temperatures. They delivered a great performance once more. Now we arrive at the summer break, and it’s time to rest and think about what we can do when we return for the second half of the season. It is important that we maintain our advantage over our competitors to achieve our goals this year. »
Max Chilton – 17th:
« A very difficult race today for the whole team and clearly the hardest of my career. The track is demanding most of the time, with little to no rest throughout the lap and there are 70 laps. As if that wasn’t enough, we had a real balance shift with the medium tires we started the race on. It got a bit better for a short period when we switched to the softs during the second stint. This made the car very complicated to drive for most of the race. At the same time, we are trying to manage tire degradation. So it took all my focus and energy. These issues cost us a lot of time and got us into blue flags much earlier, which made us lose even more time. So we had to fight to save what we could when we had clear air. With that in mind, I am pleased with my relative race pace in these conditions. Now, like the rest of the pit lane, a well-deserved summer break is coming for the team so we can fight in the second half of the season. »
