Red Bull hoping for wet Grand Prix
Red Bull Racing will see its cars start tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix from second and third on the grid as Daniel Ricciardo set the second best time in qualifying today, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Daniel Ricciardo, 2nd: “I couldn’t have got anything extra out of the car on that last lap, I got everything I could out of it; for that I’m pleased and I got rewarded with a front row place for tomorrow. It took a while to get going in the session today, I didn’t have the comfort or pace that I was aiming for, but I got it at the end. I feel like I’m ready to get a good result, I know it’s never going to be easy but I’m prepared for the fight tomorrow and I’ll embrace it. I couldn’t have settled into the team any better to be honest, they made me feel at home very quickly and it’s helping me. I’m really enjoying the driving and it seems to be showing with the results. I’m really pleased. The team is closing the gap to the front and we’re getting better each race.”
Sebastian Vettel, 3rd: “In wet conditions, we have a bit more of a chance against Mercedes than in the dry. I think the conditions for tomorrow are forecast to be dry, but for sure we will try and do what we can. I think we are in the best position to try and give them a hard time in the race, so let’s see. We made some improvements with the car this weekend and I think the test in Bahrain helped, but we still have some work to do. I would like to be first of course, but I have a good position to start the race. Well done to Daniel today, he’s doing very well I have to say.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A great job from both of our guys in tricky conditions to split the Mercedes. Daniel and Sebastian progressed well through the two sessions to get comfortably into Q3. We knew sector three was always going to be our Achilles Heel here and again, even in these conditions, it proved to be the case; our straight line speed wasn’t able to challenge that of the Mercedes. Nonetheless, it was a brilliant performance by Dan again, to qualify on the front row. Sebastian didn’t have the cleanest second run in Q3, but both cars have great grid positions for tomorrow’s race with P2 and P3.”
Thierry Salvi, Renault Team Support Leader: “There are always lots of things going on during qualy in these weather conditions; the compromise between drivability and ERS energy has to be constantly optimized. A lot of work is going on now to optimise the power unit package, with which the progression margin is huge. It was again very hard to stay close to the front, but both drivers did a fantastic job to secure second and third places today. We know that we’ve got more chances to win in wet conditions but we will push to get a big points haul tomorrow, whatever the weather. All in all a very good qualifying for the team.”
