Jaime Alguersuari (13th): Q1 was a nightmare, but it was the same for everyone I guess. We had to come in and switch to intermediate tyres, in very slippery conditions. But it was just enough to get into Q2 and try again in similar conditions. Then later on the slick tyres, I had a strong feeling of confidence from the car, because this weekend the car balance has been quite good as we have worked well over the two days.
On my last run, Turns 13 and 14 were still slippery so although I pushed as hard as I could for most of the lap, I backed off a bit at these two points and that’s where I lost all my time, which meant I was not going to make Q3. To be honest, I never expected to be this high up the order, so I hope it rains again tomorrow, which will suit us well.
Sebastien Buemi (15th): It was a chaotic qualifying session. In the end, we were quite lucky to go out on a dryer track at the end of Q1, because we were not in Q2 at that stage. But we made it and the circuit continued to improve lap after lap. I think I made my final run a bit too early, as the track was still drying so much, that a slighter later start would have meant a faster circuit. Jaime did a good lap today, so let’s see what we can both do tomorrow.
Giorgio Ascanelli: In performance terms this is pretty much what we expected, which means not so different to Hungary. We regret that we did not pip Liuzzi, because I think we should have done. We look a bit better than usual because other drivers made mistakes. I want to emphasise that the team did a very good job, particularly in getting both our cars at the front of the queue to leave the pit lane for the restart in Q1.
During Q1, on intermediates, we could see that times would be better on slicks as there was no rain forecast and the clouds were moving away, which is why we brought the drivers back to the pits, rather than let them close their laps. Jaime has done a good job over the two days, keeping calm, even if he told us on the radio this afternoon that he could have taken more risks. However, I am pleased all the same.
