Saturday quotes: Toro Rosso, Renault, Sauber

Carlos Sainz qualified P12 for his home grand prix, while the pressure mounts on Jolyon Palmer with another Q1 exit.

Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz: “We knew it was going to be very tough to get into Q3, but we were close! It’s a shame, because I think we had the right balance on the car and I felt comfortable. For tomorrow, I hope we can have a good race. I always try my best and I will do just that once again, in front of my home crowd. I will try and be aggressive at the start in order to gain positions and strategy can always be an important factor here in Spain, so I think we can put on a good show; I’m looking forward to it. I can also count on all the support from the fans to give me that extra boost!”

Daniil Kvyat: “The car was very hard to drive and, to be honest, I think we need to change quite a few things… It was already difficult yesterday and today it just continued – I had absolutely no grip and I just can’t handle the car well here. For sure it’s quite a disappointing situation, but we just need to keep our heads down and analyse why I’m struggling here in Barcelona – it’s strange. Starting last there’s nothing to lose tomorrow, so we will just need to go forward and see where we end up after having worked hard overnight.”

Renault
Nico Hulkenberg: “The conditions in qualifying didn’t play in our favour this afternoon. It was very windy and together with the higher temperatures, it has had an impact on our aero performance. We didn’t change a great deal on the car from this morning as it was pretty decent, so the main difference from FP3 was the ambient conditions. I didn’t feel as happy with the car as earlier today, but that said, I’m very happy with the laps I put in, especially the last one in Q2 which was pretty sweet, but that was it for today. We will put our heads down, push hard and aim for a good race tomorrow.”

Jolyon Palmer: “This afternoon was very disappointing, certainly compared to yesterday when we were seventh and eighth. We were definitely missing performance and we need to understand why that has happened. The wind was very strong which certainly affects the cars, so we have to understand why our car seemed more susceptible to this. Now it’s time to work with the engineers in preparation for the best race possible tomorrow.”

Sauber
Pascal Wehrlein: “I am pleased with Q2. After the practice sessions on Friday, we could not have expected such a result. We had some issues with the car yesterday as well as today in FP3 so I was not sure how qualifying would be. The most important was to get the maximum out of the car – which I have done. The team also did a good job considering that we do not have the full update package on the car yet.”

Marcus Ericsson: “Overall it has been a positive weekend – bearing in mind that we did not try all the aerodynamic parts on the car yet. We had a good feeling in FP3 and we could underline that as well in qualifying. We are closer to the midfield here in Barcelona, which is a good sign. My aim was to qualify for Q2 today, so I am disappointed to have missed it by only five thousandths. Overall I am satisfied with the progress we have made from a team perspective, but personally it is a pity that I was eliminated in Q1.”