Sauber takes two steps forward and moves up on the grid
For the second time this year Kamui Kobayashi made it into the top ten qualifying. In the end he qualified tenth for the Spanish Grand Prix. Team mate Pedro de la Rosa was sixth fastest in the first qualifying session, but in Q2 the local hero had to make do with 12th. Both drivers are happy with the improvements made to the car.
Kamui Kobayashi: C29.01 / Ferrari 056 Qualifying: 10th / 1.21.984 min (in Q3) 3rd Practice: 12th / 1:22.412 min (11 laps) “I already knew from the morning session that my pace here was good enough for Q3. The team did a really good job – not only in qualifying, but also over the last three weeks. We have changed the direction for the car’s development and as a reward we made it for the second time this season to Q3. The performance of the car is a lot better. We have aero updates and also an engine upgrade for reliability. I won’t set myself targets for tomorrow. I just hope to finish the race and everything else, I believe, will be okay then.”
Pedro de la Rosa: C29.03 / Ferrari 056 Qualifying: 12th / 1.22.026 min (in Q2) 3rd Practice: 13th / 1:22.527 min (20 laps) “I’m not happy. In Q2 I was sixth and it obviously was possible to get into Q3. I don’t really understand what went wrong. I had a bit of understeer here and there and out of turn two I was sliding. However, the positive thing is we have made a big step forward since the Chinese Grand Prix, and we are a lot more competitive.”
Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “If you want to move forward on the grid, you have to take two steps, because the competition is not standing still. And that’s exactly what we achieved. A great compliment and thank you to the whole team. We can be happy with what we achieved today.”
James Key, Technical Director: “That was an excellent qualifying result for our team, along with a genuine pace from both drivers, which was very encouraging. We weren’t sure how far we could push forward in qualifying, but I think after Q1 we realised we had a good chance of doing well, and I think in Q2 that proved to be the case. Pedro was just a few tenths of a second shy of Q3, but Kamui put an excellent single lap together to get through. We didn’t have any new tyres for Q3, but we decided nevertheless to give it a go. A great performance from both drivers, and a well deserved result for the team. The updates worked, which was very much a team effort, and we can be proud of the step we made. Now we have to keep it going.”
