Both Toro Rosso drivers made it into Q2 at Silverstone, a feat none of the Caterham, Marussia or HRT drivers achieved...
Toro Rosso:
Daniel Ricciardo: "It was a tricky session and a long one, with similar conditions to last year, when I made my F1 debut at this race. Unfortunately, after the restart I didn't manage to get through to the top ten, where we had been before the red flag. I am sure I was affected by the yellow flag for Grosjean's spin on the last lap, because without it I would have have been into Q3. Our pace is better than our position would have you believe, therefore, as I said on Friday, if we have a wet race, which seems likely, I think we can do well tomorrow, when I will be racing hard. The car seems to work well in the wet, but starting in the mid field there will be a lot of spray to contend with, so there are pros and cons to racing in the rain."
Jean-Eric Vergne: "It could have been a really good qualifying and it had been going well up until the red flag. I was fourth at the time, but I knew it would restart with better track conditions and I would have to do it all over again. The red flag was definitely the right decision as there was too much water for the tyres to clear. However, at the restart, we considered running Intermediates before making a quick decision to switch to the Extreme and I think maybe I could have been higher up the order except that I therefore missed the opportunity to do a second flying lap as the chequered flag came out. I am disappointed, as I feel I could have got into Q3 today. I hope we have a wet race tomorrow, because although I will be starting from the back, everything is possible in these conditions and I hope I can make the most of the fact our car is working well in the wet, to have a good race."
Caterham:
Vitaly Petrov: "I'm almost happy with today's performance! It's a little disappointing that we couldn't show the full potential of the car but it is good that we know the updates are working. That's obviously important for me, but also for all the guys here on track and back at the factory because we know that we are progressing. It looks like it's going to rain here again tomorrow and again that means we won't be able to really show what we've achieved with the new package and with the summer break coming up in a couple of races time I hope we have a couple of dry races in Germany and Hungary where we can really show how far we've come. With the rain I think tomorrow's going to be a really exciting race for the fans. For us it'll be about making sure we don't make mistakes, using the strategy well and keeping the car on the road. If we can do that anything can happen."
Heikki Kovalainen: "Qualifying today was all about trying to get the lap in at the right time. There was a point when the track was drying out and we were thinking about going to dry tyres but then the rain started falling more heavily and I couldn't quite put my best lap together. I was in a group of cars at the beginning of the session and that cost me a bit of time but other than that there weren't really any problems, I just don't think there was any more on offer today with the conditions."
Marussia:
Timo Glock: "A very frustrating end to a qualifying session that held so much promise for us, and which could have really lifted the team after such a difficult week. The last lap of my second run was very strong and I thought 'Wow, we have a chance at Q2 here'. Then I came up to the Hangar Straight and I just saw this massive rain front ahead of me. The last sector was massively wet, whereas before it was very dry, and I thought 'I can't believe it. We're going to lose everything.' In the last two corners there was no grip and I just couldn't continue the pace to keep on pulling out the gap, so in the end we ended up where we normally are position-wise. I'm disappointed for the team, but to look at the positive, we could have had a surprise result today as the car seems to be working well. We have to accept it and carry the promise through to tomorrow and see what the weather will do for us."
Charles Pic: "A very disappointing day for me. This morning we were working hard to ensure a positive result, but we experienced a fuel pick-up problem first and I was stuck on track. We managed to get the car back quite quickly which meant we could try to get back out - and we did, with 15 minutes to spare - but then soon after the car stopped again for a different reason, so there wasn't much luck in that session. After some changes to the car in the break, with the engine and gearbox, we were building slowly towards the final run and my first two sectors were strong. Then the rain hit in the last sector and I had to slow for the Yellows which came out for Timo's spin, so I didn't get the chance to continue the improvement into sector 3. It's disappointing but we have to hope for a more positive end to the week. I would like to thank the team for their great work in the lunch break today to ensure we weren't delayed for the start of qualifying."
HRT:
Pedro de la Rosa: "This was probably the toughest qualifying session, because you didn't know what you were going to find. Towards the end of the session they asked me through the radio if I wanted to change to dry tyres and I looked up to the sky and didn't know what to go for because some parts of the track were dry, others wet...so we continued on intermediates and the strategy was to push on every lap as if it was the last one. As for tomorrow's race, there aren't many options because this is a high downforce track, both in wet and dry conditions. We used a set-up with a medium suspension, not too hard, because I doubt it will be a fully wet or fully dry race, so we have to be flexible."
Narain Karthikeyan: "Qualifying was a big lottery because at some stages it was raining heavily in one part of the track and not on another. The car was really good in the dry this morning but English weather is very unpredictable and it turned things right around. We beat one Marussia, which is good, but we always want to do better. These conditions are a gamble and for us it's better to race in wet conditions because anything can happen. You just need to stay calm and take the opportunities that present themselves."
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