Sat: Manor, Renault, Haas, Sauber

Haas once again fails to impress during qualifiers, while Sauber, Renault and Manor looking to prove their worth on the grid on Sunday.

Manor:
Rio Haryanto: “I’m not so happy with my lap today. Yesterday we were quite competitive and in the mix with Sauber but today this wasn’t the case. It was difficult to get the tyre up to temperature because we’d already completed a lap before the red flag. We’ll need to look at how much of a factor that was for us when we examine the data this evening. Our race pace looked good in free practice yesterday so I’m still positive for tomorrow.”

Pascal Wehrlein: “The track was pretty dry by the start of qualifying and so slicks was the right choice. There’s a bump on the start-finish straight and behind that a patch of water, which I hit, lost the rear and spun. It was very unexpected as everywhere else on the track was fine but difficult to see as it was hidden. I guess I was just unlucky as there was nothing I could do. The only fortunate thing is that I didn’t hit the Armco too hard; it could have been a much bigger job ahead of the race. I’m disappointed not to qualify but the race is another day and our pace looked good in practice yesterday. It’s not easy to start from the back but that’s what we did in Australia and things didn’t end so badly for me. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and for my part I’ll be giving it my best shot as always.”

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen: “It’s been a tricky weekend so far here in China; this afternoon was the first time I’d driven the car round the circuit in the dry. I think that I did a decent first qualifying lap and I was able to improve a little bit on my second run. We were so close to being in Q2 today and that is frustrating as I think that we should have been there in under more normal circumstances but this is where we are at the moment. We know that things will only get better and we are aiming to improve step by step. I hope that we can have a good race tomorrow with a solid pace and fight in the midfield. Let’s see, I’ll be going for it.”

Jolyon Palmer: “The car felt ok on the first run but it was still a bit damp and I was quite cautious. The second run was a struggle, with a real lack of grip. I didn’t have such problems yesterday or this morning so we need to try and understand where the loss of performance is coming from between myself and the team. For tomorrow, normally the race pace is a bit better than our qualifying speed but we’re still starting near the back and that makes things challenging.”

Haas:
Romain Grosjean: “I think the car is better than it was yesterday, and we were much closer in terms of lap times. That’s a positive. We were very unlucky with that red flag at the end of Q2. We didn’t get to run a new set in Q2, so here we are. Not the best position but tomorrow, the race is long. The tyre degradation is huge, so we’ll try to get the best from that. Not an easy weekend for us between FP1, which was non-stop red flags for various reasons, then FP3 being wet. Everything’s been made a little complicated for us. Tomorrow is a different day, but not ideal today.”

Esteban Gutierrez: “It was quite a tricky session in the beginning. I was planning to do as many laps as I could as, basically, it was the first time I was out running on track. It was very difficult to get up to speed. I did my best with the conditions. Our focus now is on the race tomorrow and getting the best out of the car.”

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson: “I am glad we are back with the qualifying format from last year. With both cars in Q2 that was a step in the right direction. This is something we should be pleased about. In Q1 especially this was a very good effort from me making it to P13. For the race tomorrow we should have some good chances and be fighting for one or two points, because the long runs on Friday were quite promising.”

Felipe Nasr: “First of all, I was happy we went back to the old qualifying format, which gave us another opportunity to run an extra set of new tyres. I feel like I did a pretty good lap, although I am still experiencing some issues with breaking, as I have done in the previous events. I am confident the team will solve the issue very soon. The race could be interesting with all the tyre choices, especially seeing how quickly the supersoft is degrading.”