Paul Hembery: “We’d like to congratulate Nico Rosberg and Mercedes on their achievements today. The way that Nico, Michael and the Mercedes used the tyres was superb. The small gaps between the drivers during the first two sessions showed the tight level of competition that we can expect tomorrow, with the difference between the two compounds still expected to be between 0.6-0.8 seconds per lap and two to three pitstops expected per car.
“Once more, the Sauber team did an excellent job with the tyres, and fourth-fastest time in qualifying for Kamui certainly reflects that. Tyre degradation in China is traditionally quite high: the teams were clearly trying to save tyres where they could today and tyre strategy is clearly going to be crucial. There is only a low probability of rain expected tomorrow, but the track could be a bit damp in the morning, so we might see some humid conditions at the very start of the race.”
