Russian GP – post qualifying update

26.09.20

p19

1m35.066s

“So, that’s qualifying wrapped up – unfortunately without the result I was hoping for on my side of the garage this time.

Everything felt good after FP3. The team had made changes overnight to gear the car more towards race pace, and that gave me confidence heading into qualifying.

The track temperature was cooler for the session, and the wind had shifted, but the biggest issue I had was with the brakes.

During Q1 they had no bite, and this contributed to me missing Turn 2 on my first push lap. I was still slowing down, but just not enough! I was left in the run-off and had to abandon the lap, leaving me without a reference for most of the corners.

The brakes were still an issue on my second run, and that knocked my performance and confidence. Not the cleanest lap from my side as I just wanted to bank something rather than go all out.

The good news is that we found what the issue was straight after the session. The data showed exactly where the problem was, so we can rectify it. Hopefully tomorrow’s race can be cleaner and I can make the most of the new set-up direction we have taken.”