“If the changeable weather continues into tomorrow, then being outside of the top ten provides more of an option to fine-tune the strategy. Considering my lack of practice this morning, I’m pleased with my qualifying and 14th is a good position from which to attack the points tomorrow.”
Sebastian Vettel:
“Today, Q3 was definitely out of our reach. Unlike Melbourne, this is a circuit where you have a lot of fast corners and so it did not suit us as well. All the same, I think we did pretty much the best we could.
“Unfortunately, on my last flying lap I made a mistake in turn 14. Of course I was pushing hard to get as close as possible to Q3 – higher up the grid at least – and it cost me about two tenths, but we can be reasonably satisfied. I think we have a good set-up for race conditions.”
Nico Rosberg:
“I can’t believe how it went today. I came here from a podium finish a few days ago and now I qualify 16th, although I felt my last flying lap was pretty good.
“Our car doesn’t seem to like the new asphalt they laid on this track at all. It’s too smooth and it doesn’t make our tyres work properly, so I am just sliding everywhere. It will be tough tomorrow starting from this position, but our car should be better in racing conditions, and maybe some rain might help us!”
Giancarlo Fisichella:
“Just five hundredths away from Q2 – it was very close! I am a little disappointed with not getting there, but I did my best and did a fantastic lap. Let’s say it’s very encouraging – just five hundredths from the top 16 and Q2, and just under a second from the quickest lap time of that session; it is very promising for the future. The team has done a fantastic job so far. Of course we have a lot of work to do, but looking forward we are going in the right direction, which is just great.”
Sebastien Bourdais:
“I was in P15 on my second run and the car felt good so we should have had a shot at Q2, but then I had a brake problem at the second corner; I pumped the brake pedal but when I got to turn four, the pedal went to the floor again and there was nothing I could do.
