What the teams said – Sprint day and Qualifying in Great Britain

Mercedes

Antonelli made a great start from P2 for the Sprint, challenging Hamilton from the off. In the end he slotted behind the Ferrari man, biding his time to make a move for the lead. Once he swept past Hamilton, Antonelli could not be caught and cantered away for a maiden Sprint win. As for Russell, his position see-sawed as he climbed to third at one point, before being passed by Norris and Verstappen. He did eventually overtake the Dutchman after a few close battles to limit the championship gains of his team mate.

But Russell will have to get his elbows out again in the race if he doesn’t want his team mate to extend that lead yet further, as he starts fourth – with both Ferraris between himself and Antonelli. The Briton had a hairy moment in Q1 when he tapped the barriers in a strange off, capping a difficult day. Antonelli grabbed pole by nearly two tenths of a second from Leclerc as he continued his strong weekend.

Kimi Antonelli, Sprint: 1st, Qualifying: 1st, 1:28.111

"The car has felt good all day, and we’ve managed to put everything together, both in the Sprint and then in Qualifying. I was struggling for momentum at the start of the Sprint but once I caught up to Lewis (Hamilton) and got within overtake mode, I was confident I could get the pass done. Once I was in free air, I had the pace to build a gap and bring home the car for the win.

"We knew, just as it was yesterday, that Qualifying would be a big fight with the Ferraris. That is exactly how it turned out; I had a lock-up in Q2 which cost me some confidence, but we changed some settings and got back on track. My final effort was a very tidy lap and proved good enough for pole position.

"We’ve had a positive weekend so far but tomorrow will be a long race. We will need to make a good start and work hard to keep the Ferraris at bay. They’ve shown great pace here at Silverstone and we will need to be at our best if we want to beat them."

George Russell, Sprint: 4th, Qualifying: 4th, 1:28.481

"Today hasn’t been straightforward on my side. The balance of the car has been reasonably strong and I’ve felt comfortable, but we’ve been struggling with our straight-line speed. In the Sprint therefore, we ended up in a battle with the McLarens, the Red Bull of Verstappen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. We were able to fight our way to P4, but our pace was probably strong enough to have been in the top three and chasing Lewis (Hamilton) and Kimi (Antonelli).

"I had a small off in Q1 in Qualifying, but we recovered and were in the fight for pole. On my final run though I caught some traffic on my out lap and didn’t quite get the tyres in the right window. That meant that my push lap was compromised from the start and we had to settle for P4. That was frustrating but we know that we can move forward tomorrow. We will be doing everything we can to do so and get in the mix at the very front."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"It has been a real battle with Ferrari so far this weekend. They have been quick from the first session, and we’ve had to work hard to take the fight to them. In the Sprint, we saw lots of yo-yoing as drivers used different deployment strategies to try and gain position. Kimi was able to get ahead of Lewis (Hamilton) and then break the overtake mode to take the win. For George, he ended up in a fight with multiple cars. He did well to get P4 and showed good pace.

"In Qualifying, both drivers were quick and Kimi managed to hook his lap up at the end of Q3 to take pole. For George, he was in the mix but traffic ahead of his final effort cost him the optimal lap. P4 is still an OK position to start from, and we know he will still be in the fight for victory tomorrow. It will be a long race and there will likely be plenty of opportunities."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We struggled with the car yesterday and to that extent, our pace in the Sprint was a pleasant surprise. Lewis (Hamilton) was fast, but Kimi did a good job to stay close and eventually make a pass stick for the win. George had a bit more going on; he was in a tight race with the two McLarens and Verstappen and Leclerc. He did well to get ahead of several of those and just didn't quite have the time to catch and pass Norris at the end.

"Given that the car had decent long run pace we didn't change much going into Qualifying. The conditions were very tricky for both drivers with the wind. George had an off in Q1 when he locked a front brake and ran through the gravel, having a brush with wall. He managed to dig the car out and get back to the garage to continue the session.

"After the first run of Q3, we were sat in P1 and P2. Kimi was able put together a fine lap to take pole. Unfortunately, George didn't improve; he felt his tyres needed a slightly faster out lap and ended up losing a bit of time sliding around in the first sector. That was disappointing for him but starting P4, there will still be opportunities for him tomorrow given the pace he showed in the Sprint."

Ferrari

Hamilton made an aggressive start from Sprint pole, cutting across to squeeze Antonelli. That helped him keep the lead, but he could not shake the Mercedes and was unable to keep the teenager at bay. He did hold onto second though, in a spirited performance. Leclerc finished fifth, picking off Verstappen and coming close to fighting with Russell too.

The Monegasque driver finally replicated his team mate’s form come Qualifying, as he grabbed second on the grid – matching his effort from Austria. Hamilton was third, with the Scuderia now able to fight up front with both cars and potentially do something interesting with their strategy in a bid to get ahead.

Charles Leclerc, Sprint: 5th, Qualifying: 2nd, 1:28.286

"In the Sprint, I lost a few positions at the start, and from then on, I had some battles to get further ahead. The pace was alright, and I have some ideas on what I’d like to change ahead of the race, so I look forward to working on that and hopefully making us even stronger.

"I’m pleased with my qualifying. In the past few races I struggled to put it all together, so starting from the front row once again is a good feeling. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes to get here, so today is a positive for us. It’s just the beginning, but a step in the right direction. I’ll give it my all tomorrow to make our team and tifosi proud."

Lewis Hamilton, Sprint: 2nd, Qualifying: 3rd, 1:28.458

"It's been a long day so a huge thank you to all the fans here. The atmosphere has been incredible and the support from the grandstands really gave me a boost in both the Sprint and in Qualifying. This morning I really enjoyed the fight with Kimi (Antonelli) and gave absolutely everything to bring home some good points with second place. As for Qualifying, of course I would be happier with a repeat of yesterday, but I expected both Kimi and Charles to improve today. Once again it was incredibly close, and having both cars up there gives us more opportunities for tomorrow. We’ll look at all the options available to us and do everything we can with the strategy to fight for the best possible result for the team."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"Today’s P2 and P3 is a good result for the team even if you always hope for more, as was the case yesterday. We saw a good comeback from Charles who was able to adapt to the changes we made on the car, has now found confidence in it and was able to push a bit more. Lewis also confirmed a strong level of performance and it’s good to have the two cars together on the grid for tomorrow. Our pace was good in the Sprint this morning even if we saw with Kimi (Antonelli) that they still have an advantage in terms of top speed. We will have to see if we can do something in terms of strategy, and this is something we will work on tonight. All in all, today was a good day for the team with Lewis on the podium and Charles also scoring points in the Sprint."

McLaren

Both McLaren drivers made good starts in the Sprint, flying past Verstappen who'd started from P3. But while Norris found a gap to slot into, Piastri did not – the Australian tumbling backwards. Norris and Russell had an entertaining battle, but then the McLaren man broke the one second barrier and from there comfortably held onto P3. Piastri could not extract the same pace from his car, and came home seventh in the end.

Norris’ Sprint proved to be the highlight of his day, with the team dropping off the pace of the frontrunners over one lap again. Norris was sixth for a second day running, but Piastri dropped to eighth as he struggled with rear grip.

Lando Norris, Sprint: 3rd, Qualifying: 6th, 1:28.877

"It was a challenging Qualifying and, at the moment, we're simply too far off the pace. We seem to be losing a significant amount of time both on the straights and through the corners, which highlights the limitations of our overall package. We'll review all the data from every session overnight to build the clearest possible picture, but we know we need to improve and everyone at the factory and track is working incredibly hard to close the gap through our development programme.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow's race, we have to be realistic. There may be opportunities to challenge the cars immediately ahead, but compared to the front-runners, our overall pace means it's unlikely we'll be fighting at the sharp end. That said, I was really pleased with my own performance in the Sprint to finish P3. It felt like a fantastic result given the limitations we have, and we'll be looking to maximise everything that's available to us and extract the most from the car throughout tomorrow's race."

Oscar Piastri, Sprint: 7th, Qualifying: 8th, 1:29.032

"A tougher day today. In the Sprint, we made a good start, but once the battles settled, we just didn't have the pace. This afternoon, we made some good set up changes, but we didn't quite see the benefits of them on track. The car was nervous, especially in the high-speed corners, so we just were lacking grip and pace.

"Even with these challenges, we know that when we get right, we can be right up there in the fight, like yesterday, when we were just a tenth off third place. We have clear areas we need to work on to make the car more adaptable, and the team are working very hard to do that. Mercedes is clearly a step ahead right now, but we believe teams like Ferrari are not completely unbeatable, so we will keep chipping away, manage our tyres and see what we can achieve."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

"Today’s Qualifying saw difficult track conditions for the drivers, with gusty wind making the conditions tricky, especially in the corners. That tended to favour the best cars like Ferrari and Mercedes, who opened the gap in Qualifying and finished at the front in today’s session.

"Our Q1 and Q2 were tense as we adapted to the conditions, and while we improved in Q3, the gap to the front is still large. Ultimately, looking at performance right now, we’re operating as the third or fourth team alongside Red Bull, and that’s broadly where we belong at the moment with the MCL40’s current package.

"That said, what we have seen in this morning’s Silverstone Sprint with Lando’s race pace gives us a bit more confidence that we can be more competitive over a full race tomorrow. Overall, we know there’s a lot of work ahead to fill the gap in order to fight the leading teams and we must keep improving the car so we can perform in all conditions."

Red Bull

Verstappen had a bad getaway for the Sprint, dropping a handful of places. He fought back, initially getting ahead of Leclerc and Russell, but he could not keep those two at bay as his pace faded as the laps ticked down. Hadjar also dropped down at the start, and took a while to fight back. He got Gasly and Lindblad to run ninth, and tried to make a move on Lawson for the final point but couldn’t force his way through.

Hadjar more than made up for that slight disappointment by qualifying fifth though, his best grid slot since Monaco. He out-qualified his team mate for the first time since Suzuka, Verstappen left unhappy with his car and specifically his deployment in Q3.

Max Verstappen, Sprint: 6th, Qualifying: 7th, 1:28.893

“It wasn’t a good Qualifying for me, everything seemed a little bit off. In the Sprint, we struggled for top speed, and going into Qualifying we made some decent changes, but the whole session we were slow on the straight and had issues with balance. We haven’t found anything that makes a difference, so we’re pretty sure there’s a problem there. It’s difficult to make sense of all the things we’ve struggled with today, and there’s a lot to understand, so let’s see how things go tomorrow.” 

Isack Hadjar, Sprint: 9th, Qualifying: 5th, 1:28.746

“I have mixed feelings about the Sprint. We struggled with the start again and dropped a few places, so had to spend the race getting those back. The race pace wasn't all there but I managed a few overtakes and was close to getting back into the points. Onto Qualifying and I'm definitely happy with how it went. I felt very comfortable in the car throughout the session and we improved with every run. On the last run, I went all in and ended up with a bit too much sliding, so I think there was a little more lap time on the table. P5 was probably the maximum result we could have achieved, so we will take it. We're still missing the pure performance to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari, but tomorrow we'll be in the fight with both McLarens and hopefully bring home some solid points.” 

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“To be honest, we have taken a step backwards compared to where we were in Austria and things have been difficult from the start of the weekend. We are still learning how to find the sweet spot with this car and that has proved to be more difficult here at Silverstone. Today, we are a little bit further off pole than we were yesterday and this afternoon, it proved to be more difficult on Max’s side of the garage. We never managed to give him a car with which he could push the way he would have wanted, he was losing speed in a straight line and, in this situation, when it is so close between the top four teams, that is where you end up. Isack did a solid job, considering the limitations he also had with his car. Today, we seem to be the third best team, so let’s see how we can improve on that tomorrow.” 

Racing Bulls

Both Racing Bulls lost out to Gasly at the start of the Sprint, but soon got into a rhythm and picked off the Frenchman. That was ideal, as Lawson was in the points with Lindblad as his buffer – but then the rookie was passed by Hadjar. That left Lawson vulnerable late on, and he cut across the apex at Stowe as Hadjar made a move. The stewards investigated whether the Kiwi racer had moved under braking, and opted to give him a warning so he held onto his one point.

The team once again got both drivers into the top 10 in Qualifying, but this time Lindblad pipped his team mate as he seeks a Sunday score on home soil in his first Silverstone outing.

Arvid Lindblad, Sprint: 10th, Qualifying: 9th, 1:29.305

"Overall, it was a very positive day. Driving at this circuit is always special, and the fans create an incredible atmosphere. We gathered valuable data in this morning’s Sprint ahead of tomorrow’s race and made a step forward in Qualifying thanks to a few changes we made to the car between sessions. Q1 wasn’t straightforward, but it was a great team effort to put the car in a better operating window for the rest of the session. My lap times during Qualifying were all very similar, even if there was a bit left on the table, so there are still a few areas I’ll be looking at to try and unlock a bit more performance.

“We’ve had a competitive car for a good few weekends now, so I’m very grateful to the team for the incredible work they’ve done. The focus now shifts to tomorrow, when the points are on the line, and we’ll keep pushing to maintain this level of performance and come away with a strong result."

Liam Lawson, Sprint: 8th, Qualifying: 10th, 1:29.716

"I was pretty happy with our result in the Sprint race earlier this afternoon, securing a point ahead of Qualifying. Then, while we were pleased to reach Q3, it felt as though we scraped by. We didn't improve our lap time from a very strong Q1, so we'll be taking a look at why we lost the balance throughout the session. As a team, our focus is on having a strong start tomorrow in order to push for maximum points. We've had a strong package this weekend, so hopefully we'll make the necessary improvements to maintain our fight at the top of the midfield ."

Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer

"A great day for the VCARB team today in Silverstone, but not without a few challenges along the way. The start of the Sprint Race this morning didn't go perfectly to plan after we lost places to Alpine. But once again we demonstrated the car's recent progression in race-pace to quickly recover and overtake. From here the focus was to pull the gap to the cars behind and maintain position, which Liam succeeded in doing to finish in eight place and score a well-earned point for the team! Ahead of Qualifying we further refined the car's set-up to optimise the use of the aero platform based on a better understanding of track conditions and grip. We were happy with the changes but found differences on car balance across the two cars through the Qualifying session, hampering Liam's confidence in the car. We will turn our attention this evening to investigate and understand these. The session proved challenging for all cars due to the gusty wind conditions, however both drivers dealt well with this and delivered excellent laps to get through to Q3, finishing P9 and P10. This sets us up well for the race on Sunday. It is tight in the mid field, but we continue to demonstrate good race pace and should be well placed to bring the cars home in the points."

Audi

Audi could not quite get on the pace of Alpine in the Sprint, with Hulkenberg called to the stewards to explain a moment with Hadjar where the Audi man ran wide and did not cede position. They found the German at fault and handed him a post-Sprint time penalty, dropping him from 13th to 15th.

In Qualifying it was Bortoleto who got closest to Q3, winding up P11 and seeming disappointed afterwards, believing there was more to give.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sprint: 15th, Qualifying: 13th, 1:30.076

“It wasn’t the qualifying we were aiming for and I believe there was more potential than P13 today. I didn’t quite put the laps together in Q2, and on the final run I lost the tow when the car ahead pitted, which cost a bit of time on the straights.

"Tomorrow is another opportunity, and if we can execute a clean race, there’s still every chance to move forward.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sprint: 13th, Qualifying: 11th, 1:29.461

"First, I want to start by thanking the team for their hard work. We suffered a small gearbox issue at the beginning of Q1, but they did a great job getting the car back together and giving me the chance to get back out on track, set a lap and make it through. In Q2, I made a mistake in Turn 6 which cost me quite a bit of time, and that was it for me - still, I think Q3 could have been possible today, and I am quite satisfied with our final position.

“The Sprint itself was pretty uneventful earlier today. I struggled a bit with the start, so that's something we'll keep working on. Now, the focus shifts to tomorrow's race, where hopefully we can put everything together and put up a fight for the top 10."

Allan McNish, Racing Director

“Overall, there are plenty of positives to take from today. In the Sprint, our race pace was strong and in line with what we've shown at recent events, but poor starts on both cars compromised our race and left us having to recover the positions we lost off the line. That's an area we'll be analysing carefully, because clean starts will be crucial tomorrow.

“In Qualifying, the team did a great job to recover from the gearbox issue on Gabriel's car, allowing him to make the most of a single run in Q1 before narrowly missing out on Q3 by just three hundredths of a second. Nico's pace was there throughout, but after having one lap deleted for track limits, we weren't able to put everything together on the final run. The underlying pace has been encouraging so far and if we can execute a clean race from the start, we're in a good position to fight further up the order.”

Alpine

A great start for Gasly saw him run eighth in the early stages of the Sprint. But the Frenchman did not have the pace to keep the two Racing Bulls cars behind, and lost out to Hadjar as well. Colapinto also got away well to climb past a handful of cars, showing that Alpine could be a threat off the line tomorrow.

Colapinto had a hairy moment in Qualifying, spinning off and sliding backwards at high-speed across the grass. That saw him exit in Q1, with Gasly unable to make the top-10 shootout as Racing Bulls continued to top the midfield ahead of Alpine. The Frenchman was later handed a three-place grid drop for tomorrow's race having impeded Stroll in Q1 and thus will start 15th tomorrow.

Pierre Gasly, Sprint: 11th, Qualifying: 12th, 1:30.063

“It's been a tough day for us today with a difficult Sprint Race and a challenging Qualifying session. It is a bit of a reality check for us as we are lacking pace here relative to our rivals who have been consistently too far ahead and out of reach. In the Sprint, I had a good start, up to P8, but once the Racing Bulls and Isack [Hadjar] caught us, I could not stay with them. It felt like we have made some progress from yesterday but it is not enough and we need to find much bigger steps. Tomorrow our fight will again be with Racing Bulls and Audi. We learnt a few things from the Sprint which we will aim to implement in the race and see if we can take the fight to both of them for some points. It will be tough, but it is usually a long, challenging race here where anything can happen.”

Franco Colapinto, Sprint: 12th, Qualifying: 19th, 1:31.321

“With the work the team put in between the sessions and the improved feeling with the car, particularly in the low and medium speed corners, it was disappointing to end the day the way we did. We raced well in the Sprint and the car felt more competitive on high fuel, but not enough to fight with the Racing Bulls. It gives us some hope for tomorrow and hopefully we can make up some places. The wind picked up in the afternoon and made it more tricky in Qualifying, but ultimately it was the same conditions for everyone. I lost the rear going through Becketts and it took me completely by surprise. It wasn't something I felt or experienced at that corner before, which is normally flat with these cars. It was quite unusual, so we need to understand from the data what might have caused the snap at the rear. We'll do our best tomorrow knowing it will be a challenging race from where we're starting. It's a fun track to race at, so let's hope we can have some nice battles and see where we end up.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“It was not the result we were hoping for in Qualifying and is a continuation of where we found ourselves in Sprint Qualifying yesterday, albeit with a bigger gap to making it into Q3. We raced better and looked more competitive in the Sprint this morning with more fuel in the car, which has been a common theme this year, so we know we need to make bigger strides in Qualifying and find ways to extract the maximum over a single lap. If you start lower down the order, you just make life more difficult for yourself and make the task even harder to fight for points. Our rivals once again look particularly strong here and we lacked the pace to compete with the Racing Bulls and are more in the mix with Audi at this circuit. The conclusion from Qualifying today is not the best, but the race and points are handed out tomorrow and we will do our best to improve on our starting positions.”

Haas

Bearman won the Haas intra-team battle in the Sprint, coming home ahead of Ocon. But neither were able to make in-roads up the field, as they continue to struggle for pace. That form continued in Qualifying, with Ocon exiting in Q1 – although it was revealed that he lifted for yellow flags for Colapinto’s spin, which cost him a chance to progress. Bearman did make Q2, and managed to qualify ahead of both Williams cars.

Oliver Bearman, Sprint: 14th, Qualifying: 14th, 1:30.501

“It was a good start in the Sprint and a good first lap, so I’m happy with that. After that, we dropped back to where we deserved to be. Audi had a poor start, and I also managed to jump the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, who I think had an issue with deployment. After that, to be honest, not really much more I could’ve done, the Audis found their groove and eventually caught me. The first few laps were good, and then I started to struggle with my front left tyre, and that was it.

“In qualifying I always try to get the most out of it, and today, that’s what I think we did. It was tight in Q1, and getting into Q2, it looks like we made a clear step ahead of Williams, so that’s a positive. I don’t see a world where we’re any better than P14 really, the car has been incredibly difficult. High-speed hasn’t been the biggest challenge, I’m mainly struggling in the low- and medium-speed entry, where I have to run the car in a way I can survive those entry phases or have a compromise, where in high-speed I’m massively limited by understeer. It’s a different problem from what we’ve encountered before, and we did some studies after the Sprint to find a bit more load on the car, but it doesn’t look like it worked. I’ll do my best tomorrow, the home crowd always gives me a boost.”

Esteban Ocon, Sprint: 16th, Qualifying: 17th, 1:30.680

“We had a mega start in the Sprint, but I had to back off as the gap really closed in front. I could’ve gained more positions than that on the start, but had to back off. After that we overtook Carlos and both Audi drivers and we were fighting a lot through the first laps, but eventually, I had to give the places back to the Audi drivers as they were too fast for us. Another lap and I think I would’ve lost the place to Carlos as well. Then in the qualifying, it's incredibly frustrating what happened on that last lap – even more when it's because of a yellow flag and I was the only car that had to go by that single yellow.

“The team did a mega job giving me a very good car. It was more of a step forward than where we were in Sprint qualifying and where we've been in the last three to four races. The car was healthy and it was going well, we were in front of the competition and we were through until that last run when I had to back off a good two tenths. I lost out on the exit as well as you don't recharge the same way by going slow at that point. The car felt very good, much better rear grip, and we could go through the high-speed section quite decently. It was nice, I wanted to have the next two sets in Q2 to see where we could've been though.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“We’re just chipping away – I’m very happy at how the trackside team is working with help from the team back in the factories, both in Italy and the UK. I think we got the most out of the car and drivers, and we learned a couple of things, which is very important when defining the direction of development on this car. All this feedback and work we’re doing – even though ultimately the car isn’t fast enough, it’s all going into future development. While the sporting result today has been disappointing, less so about position and more looking at the gap to get into Q3, it’s big, lap-time-wise. We see where we need to improve, so we’re trying to get back into contention as soon as possible. It’s a positive day in terms of how we work together.”

Williams

Albon opted to start from the pit lane for the Sprint after making some car set-up changes, and it remains to be seen if that has garnered him and the team any useful intel for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. But on pure pace, Williams did not look competitive in the 17-lap dash. They managed to get both cars into Q2 in Qualifying for the first time since Monaco, but neither could advance any further.

Alex Albon, Sprint: 18th, Qualifying: 16th, 1:30.638

“Today was pretty much what we expected. We made some setup changes so we started from the pit lane for the Sprint to learn more about the car and go in some different directions. It was productive; we picked up some useful information, both positive and negative. We'd qualified P15 and P16 yesterday, same as today, so it felt like a good chance to test a few ideas. The other midfield teams have all brought significant upgrades, and our upgrade isn't coming until Baku, so we can only improve so much for now. The focus has been on experimenting and gathering data until then. We've struggled a bit in low speed, but the high speed has been better than it was in Austria and Barcelona.

"On the plus side, this is probably the best the car has felt – maybe the front wing helped there, though the simulator always promises a bit more than we're getting. Tomorrow won't be easy for anyone with the windy conditions, and we're hoping reliability plays a part too. For us, it'll be a battle with the Haas rather than the Alpines."

Carlos Sainz, Sprint: 17th, Qualifying: 15th, 1:30.623

"Our Sprint race was nothing special, stuck behind a Haas and struggling with deployment. For qualifying the wind picked up and our car was very sensitive to it, making it very challenging to drive and ultimately making us less competitive. I did some test items for the team and cross-car comparisons to see if we could find some performance, but it didn’t really work and we are still struggling to find pace. For the race, we'll keep collecting learnings about this new front wing and the car. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow and the target will be to maximize everything."

James Vowles, Team Principal

“Small steps forward, but we have a huge amount more to do. We were trialling different setups today in the Sprint, which we've kept on the car, and there's small progress from that. In these windier conditions the cars became tricky, and whilst we didn't get everything out of it that we could, we still have to conclude that we have a large gap we need to close to the top of the midfield - and quickly. It'll be an interesting race tomorrow and we'll give it everything."

Cadillac

Perez managed to collide with Alonso in the early stages of the Sprint and was deemed at fault for that incident. The Mexican was handed a 10-second penalty, which dropped him to last. His Qualifying did not go much better, as he was beaten over one lap by his team mate for the first time since Miami. They did manage to beat the Aston Martins though, which again showed progress.

Valtteri Bottas, Sprint: 19th, Qualifying: 18th, 1:31.227

“One of the better Qualifying sessions for me this year. We maximised the session and didn’t leave much more on the table with a good last run. We improved the set-up of the car from yesterday's Quali and today’s Sprint. The changes felt better in Qualifying with the balance, but they should be more suited to tomorrow’s race so let’s see what’s possible.”

Sergio Perez, Sprint: 22nd, Qualifying: 20th, 1:31.451

“We used the Sprint this morning as a learning opportunity after the incident with Fernando [Alonso]. I did apologise to him for that one, but luckily he didn’t lose much. In Qualifying I struggled with my high-speed balance so we made a lot of changes and on one of them something happened that gave me no front end grip through the fast sections, which hurt me quite a lot.

"All the same we have good information for tomorrow and hopefully we can be quite a bit stronger in the race and in the mix for the midfield. There will be a lot happening and we just need to be there at the right time as there can be opportunities.”

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal

“Today has been highly valuable to gain more information on the car and tyre behaviour in high-speed trim. We intentionally ran the cars on a split strategy in the Sprint and it has set us up well for the race tomorrow. Valtteri and Checo have shown maturity in playing the long game for what is likely to be a long but unpredictable race.”

Aston Martin

Alonso’s Sprint was made more difficult by an early spin after some contact with Perez. He did come home ahead of his team mate, with Stroll opting to pit for new tyres which dropped him backwards. Come Qualifying, it was the Canadian who was the faster of the two Aston Martin drivers, beating Alonso by two tenths of a second.

Fernando Alonso, Sprint: 20th, Qualifying: 22nd, 1:33.025

“It’s another difficult Qualifying session for us with the car exactly the same as recent race weekends. This is our position right now, but we do have some positives to take away, with good deployment and energy management. We’ve also had good starts as we showed again in the Sprint earlier today. Everyone is working hard to improve, so we’ll see what we can learn tomorrow.”

Lance Stroll, Sprint: 22nd, Qualifying: 21st, 1:32.863

“We didn't get the set-up right for the Sprint this morning, but we made some changes and got it in a better window for Qualifying. I felt happier in the car. We're still not where we want to be and so it doesn't count for much, but it felt like a good lap.”

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

“We collected the data we could from the Sprint with both cars running on the Soft tyres and Lance pitting for the Mediums in the final few laps. Fernando’s Sprint was impacted by contact with Sergio [Perez], which cost him some time, although he was able to finish the race. There were no surprises in Qualifying given our current performance level. We will do what we can tomorrow to extract what we can from the race.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

"All the compounds available this weekend have proven to be valid options for shaping tomorrow’s race strategies. The levels of degradation recorded today were, overall, lower than expected, likely also thanks to the way current cars manage energy at this circuit. For this reason, according to our simulations, the one-stop strategy is around 13 seconds quicker than a two-stop.

"The vast majority of teams used the Medium compound for the Sprint, and we expect the C2 to be the most common choice for the start of the Grand Prix as well. The yellow tyre has shown sufficiently consistent performance and can offer good strategic flexibility in the event of race neutralisation.

"The fastest strategy involves using the C2 in the opening phase of the race, then switching to the Hard between laps 24 and 30. A possible alternative is the Medium–Soft combination, with a pit stop scheduled between laps 29 and 35. Alternatively, a strategy starting on the Hard followed by a stint on Medium could be chosen, or beginning the race on the Soft and finishing on the Hard."