22nd and 23rd positions for Hispania
At HRT both drivers are fairly satisfied with their performances. Tonio Liuzzi did the best job set the 22nd time, just ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Their are close behind Timo Glock's Virgin. Tonio will even start from 21st place as Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi will drop 5 places on the grid.
Vitantonio Liuzzi, F111-002, #23, 22nd (11 laps) 1:26.323 :
“It was a good qualifying session overall. 22nd place is a good result, especially after having experienced some problems during the weekend. We have been trying some different things on the car and the balance of the car improved. Unfortunately we had an issue on the first lap where we broke the front wing and we had to go all the way to the end like this. But it’s positive to have been competitive with our main rivals, especially after the troubles of the past few days and on a track that doesn’t suit us too well. We would have done better if everything stayed together but now we have to look forward and push for tomorrow’s race”.
Daniel Ricciardo, F111-003, #22, 23rd (11 laps) 1:26.479:
“I thought it was not a bad lap at the end, we are quite close to Tonio and Timo, there are only a couple of tenths in it. When you see that the times are so close it is a little bit frustrating to not be one spot ahead. Nevertheless, we can be satisfied because we are competitive although I hoped for a little bit better. Tomorrow is another day. It’s going to be quite difficult given the conditions. Tyre management will be a key factor as well as pit stops. I don’t know what to expect but I’m going to push to the limit and see what happens”.
Colin Kolles, Team Principal:
“We sent our cars out right away with super-soft tyres and Ricciardo got the ball rolling with 1.27.206 and Liuzzi 1.27.850 in very windy conditions. We had a good fight for the positions and it is very close. It will be a very difficult race tomorrow if these windy conditions persist. We're well prepared for tomorrow as we have learned from yesterday and improved our set-up. We are trying to make good progress at every race and build on last week’s results. There is no reason why we can’t take another step forward this weekend. We need to maintain qualifying form and reliability and look for a two car finish again”.