Sauber pleased with Sutil's first top 10 qualifying of season
Sauber's Adrian Sutil produced a surprise in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. With an excellent performance he made it, for the first time this season, into the top ten. Teammate Esteban Gutiérrez will start from 16th.
Esteban Gutiérrez, car #21, Sauber C33-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari), 16th: “It was a tough qualifying for me. We were trying to find the best compromise with the set-up for the car. However, we have not been able to extract the maximum out of the soft tyres. Adrian did a good job and found a lap time on the soft compound. We will now look forward to the race tomorrow, and it will be important to put everything together in order to achieve the best position possible.”
Adrian Sutil, car #99, Sauber C33-Ferrari (Chassis 02/Ferrari), 10th (to start from 9th): “It was a great qualifying. In the morning we had a good free practice, and I felt comfortable with the car. The air and track temperatures went up a little in comparison to the morning, but the balance of the car was still good. We put in a great performance today, and we deserved to make it into Q3 for the first time this year. The entire team did a great job. I am pleased for everyone within the team as, especially in our current situation, this is an important result which is crucial for the motivation.”
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “We are very pleased about this qualifying result. Adrian put in an excellent performance, and the whole team did a great job. It is a relief to look at the timing sheets, and realise we can do it. We have to get the maximum out of this position tomorrow.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Finishing qualifying in the top ten is the sweet toping on what has been a bitter season so far. It’s definitely a motivating factor for everyone. We need to praise the driver who did an excellent job. And a big compliment to everyone in the team who never gave up. Overall the day was smooth, and technically everything went well. I’m very happy about where we stand now, and I hope we can convert that into a good race result tomorrow, which we know will be challenging, but we will do our best.”
