Saturday: Chilton ahead of Bianchi at Marussia

Max Chilton (#4) – 17th and 17th

The Briton encountered some issues during free practice 3 but not in qualifying, which allowed him to set a good lap, even though it could have been better: « I was really pleased with my lap in the first run and felt that several issues faced during free practice 3 were resolved. Apart from a small mistake, it was a clean lap. There was more to come, of course, but I’m pretty happy considering all the factors encountered. It would have been nice to improve as we were close to Q2, but the weather played its part, so that’s where we’ll start the race. »

Chilton expects a great first Grand Prix in 2014 and hopes to finish as high as possible in the rankings: « I think tomorrow is going to be a really exciting day for Formula 1 and the fans, and I can’t wait to see who will finish where – especially our team! »

Jules Bianchi (No.17) – 14th and 18th

Like Chilton, the Frenchman experienced issues during free practice 3, as well as in qualifying, which handicapped him and cost him performance: « After all the hard work from everyone this weekend, it’s disappointing to encounter a problem in qualifying that prevents me from getting the most out of the car. Unfortunately, we still had some electronic issues today and thought they were resolved, but they reappeared again when I started my first flying lap, and we had to ensure the car remained reliable, and then I had a problem with the gearbox. Then the rain came, which was really bad timing, and we couldn’t go back out to improve. »

But the Nice native remains confident and knows that nothing is over yet: “I think there will be many opportunities in the race tomorrow and we must stay focused to take full advantage of them.”