Germany: F1 Grand Prix Qualifying Viewed from the Pits

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 1st

Lewis Hamilton – 16th [15th on the grid]

Toto Wolff, Team Principal: « It was day and night today. Firstly, we’re all relieved that Lewis is okay after such an impact. It’s unacceptable for a brake disc to fail in that manner after we installed a new set this morning. Now it’s up to us to manage the situation. We will assess the car to see the extent of the damage.

We are very satisfied to have Nico on pole. He did a very good job in difficult conditions due to unexpected heat combined with the super soft tire, which made things tricky for everyone. Congratulations to Williams in P2 and P3 – they pushed us very hard today.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 2nd

Felipe Massa – 3rd

Rob Smedley, Performance Director: « It was a good day for the team and a good result. We maximized our performance throughout the weekend and the drivers did the work to put us in a good position for tomorrow. Qualifying is important here and we have shown that we have a good race pace. So it is time to convert that into points, hoping to improve our position in the championship. »

Read the drivers’ statements

McLaren

Kevin Magnussen – 4th

Jenson Button – 11th

Eric Boullier, Racing Director: Kevin drove very well throughout the weekend. He was particularly brilliant during his magnificent performance this afternoon. He adapted very well to the new package we brought this weekend. He gained confidence and speed in each session.

Jenson was unlucky today: he encountered traffic with his first set of tires in Q2, and he experienced a bit of oversteer in the last stint, which cost him a few tenths. Starting outside the top 10 means we can choose our tires for tomorrow. So, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It is very motivating for the whole team to see that the work is starting to pay off: we have always said that we need to stay humble and focused to always do a little better than our rivals in each race. By doing so, little by little, we will catch up. We can make up a few tenths each weekend, but there comes a time when the progress becomes noticeable. I think we are starting to be in that phase now. I know it won’t be like this every weekend, but we are clearly beginning to turn the page.

We will start tomorrow’s race hoping to attack and capitalize on our improved performance.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo – 5th

Sebastian Vettel – 6th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « We probably couldn’t do better than 5th and 6th in qualifying today. We are very competitive in sectors 1 and 3, but unfortunately, the middle sector seems to favor the Mercedes block more. However, our drivers did their best to get the most out of the car. Hopefully, in tomorrow’s race, in hot conditions, we can improve from our 5th and 6th places. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 7th

Kimi Räikkönen – 12th

Pat Fry, Chassis Manager: The qualifying result is far from satisfactory, even if it’s more or less what we expected, given the current performance level of our car. The race should be very difficult, and the weather, with uncertain forecasts for tomorrow, could be a key factor. Even today, the temperatures were very high, and under these conditions, it’s never easy for the drivers. This track demands maximum concentration since it’s a relatively short lap and it takes very little to lose several tenths and find yourself relegated to the back.

Indeed, Kimi unfortunately lost a few tenths at turn 2 in Q2 and didn’t make it to Q3. On his side, Fernando managed to improve his last sector compared to Q1 and Q2 and, as usual, he pushed the car to the limit. He couldn’t have done more. Tomorrow, rain could appear and create some surprises, and we need to be ready to capitalize on any opportunity. However, if it doesn’t rain and it stays warm, I think tire management and car reliability will be key factors, regardless of the levels of pure performance.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat – 8th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 13th

Phil Charles, Chief Race Engineer: « Overall, we are thrilled with our results today. Yesterday, we were not satisfied with both drivers’ cars, but the engineers did a superb job last night to fix the various setup issues. They worked well with both drivers, and we were able to make a good step forward today.

Daniil did an exceptional job in qualifying and Jean-Eric was a bit unlucky. He was very close but couldn’t make it into Q3, which Daniil, only a tenth faster, managed to do. It was a tough session with different tire strategies between the two drivers. JEV was very close in the middle of the pack, where a tenth made a big difference. Both drivers did a good job. It’s a great testament to their hard work with the engineers, who have solved their issues. Let’s hope JEV can have a good race tomorrow and we keep our fingers crossed for Daniil to convert a decent qualification into a result.

Read the drivers’ statements

Sahara Force India

Nico Hülkenberg – 9th

Sergio Perez – 10th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: « Being in the top 10 with both cars was the goal, and the entire team can be satisfied with our performance. With our two cars on the 5th row, we are already well-positioned, and our race pace should allow us to fight with the cars ahead of us. The heat has favored us this year. I think we can be confident if the heat continues. We have a good understanding of the tires thanks to the work done on Friday. If we make the right strategic decisions tomorrow, we can bring home a lot of points. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Sauber

Esteban Gutierrez – 14th [17th on the grid]

Adrian Sutil – 17th [16th on the grid]

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: « This result more or less reflects our current situation. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that Esteban has to drop back three places. Tomorrow, we must focus 100% on the race to ensure we make no mistakes. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – 15th [14th on the grid]

**Pastor Maldonado** – 19th

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: « It is clear that we lack pace compared to the competition, and the suspension changes we had to make this weekend made our task even harder. Romain and Pastor did what they could with the E22, but we need to find performance.

Clearly, the weather has been very hot in Germany over the past two days. We used the softest components from Pirelli’s range. We are not worried about these tires. We are more concerned about the weather changing. We will approach the race like all the others, trying to maximize any opportunities that arise.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 18th

Max Chilton – 21st

John Booth, Team Director: « We continued the progress started yesterday afternoon. Step by step in FP3 and during qualifying, we improved the car’s balance, which had regressed this weekend due to the necessary suspension changes. Jules had a very good day as we managed to make some improvements to the car. This resulted in a good qualifying session.

Unfortunately, with Max, we lost time on track due to an electronic issue. It’s a shame for him because he wasn’t able to experience the latest settings at the end of FP3. In qualifying, it clearly put him on the defensive, and he was outpaced by Kobayashi, certainly because of that.

In general, it seems that the changes this weekend have benefited Sauber, which is why we are not matching their pace. However, it seems that we are a bit closer to the Lotus and that we have maintained our advantage over the Caterham. The forecasts seem to be divergent for tomorrow’s race but, in any case, our goal is to gain places.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – 19th

Marcus Ericsson – no time [22nd on the grid]

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault F1 Track Support Manager: « We recovered from a difficult FP3 session where we encountered three handling issues. After making some setup changes, everything seemed much better for qualifying, and Kamui managed to outperform one of the Marussias and was not far off the Lotuses. On the other car, we suffered from a hydraulic leak. We tried everything to fix it in time, but we couldn’t get Marcus running. However, we have identified the source of the problem, and everything should be fixed for the race. We are eagerly awaiting it to gain a few places. »

– Read the drivers’ statements