Sun: McLaren, Haas, Toro Rosso, Williams

Editor

Starting on the grid on P3, Jenson Button did well to not fall too far down the grid and eventually placed in an impressive P6 while Daniil Kvyat Suffered yet another retirement.

McLaren:
Jenson Button: “I knew the race was going to be difficult – starting near the front definitely helps because you can race in clear air and do your own thing a little bit more, but, with two DRS zones around this place, we couldn’t keep the other cars behind. While our pace was okay, once a car came past, they could overtake in places we never knew were possible. Nonetheless, we beat the Williams cars on sheer pace, and I think we did a great job today with our race strategy. We really got the maximum from everything. Through every session, we’ve been improving; every run we’ve done, we made the car better and better. We did a great job all weekend, but we know that we head to Silverstone not expecting to be in this position next week.”

Fernando Alonso: “We had bad luck this weekend. It was a tough race for me today – the engine wasn’t running well from about lap three or four, I was losing power due to an issue with the battery, so we were on the verge of retiring the car for the whole race. But, since we were running on the fringe of the top 10, we knew there was a point on the table, and kept going in a bid to finish. In the end, it just wasn’t possible. We need to learn from the problems we had this weekend, but we also go away with some positives: our car was competitive in variable conditions yesterday, and Jenson scoring some good points for the team today.”

Haas:
Romain Grosjean: “It was a pretty good race. The first lap was not great. I was pushed out by another car and I lost quite a few positions. After that we stayed out on the supersofts, even though the tyres were going away. I managed to pick up some pace and run well. The safety car came when we had planned our stop, so that helped a little bit. After that I was behind (Jensen) Button. I was trying to chase him and overtake him, but it was just too hard to follow another car and then be able to pass. The last few laps, I learned I had a five-second penalty, so I had to open the gap to the car behind. I really pushed it to one hundred percent every single lap, which was quite fun, but stressful as well. I didn’t want to go out. In the end it was Perez that went out, so it was all good for me.”

Esteban Gutierrez: “It was a very difficult race from the start. Going on anti-stall, we lost a lot of ground. After that I was recovering, trying to do my best to fight all the way up to the front on a different strategy from what we had planned. In the end, the pace was pretty good. We were regaining positions and getting back to being in good shape, but we were struggling with grip. We ended up P11, very close to scoring points. It’s not great, but at least we fought all the way with what we had. I’ll keep pushing and focusing on the next race.”

Toro Rosso:
Carlos Sainz Jr: “I’m very pleased with my race today, especially because we didn’t have an easy one! We started from the back and did a good start, managing to get into the top 10 in the early stages of the race. Suddenly, after the second pit-stop during the Safety Car period, we were nearly last… Which meant we had to do a very good last stint on the Soft tyres – 35 laps – overtaking lots of cars and managing to get back into the top eight, something a bit unexpected after seeing myself back in P15 with half the race to go. After a tough Saturday, I’m happy to finish the weekend with a good result as we’ve worked very hard for this – now we just need to make sure we have better Saturdays in order to start races further up the grid and fight for more points. I’m confident we can do it and I look forward to next week’s race weekend in Silverstone – my favorite track together with Spa – where we will keep pushing!”

Daniil Kvyat: “What an unfortunate weekend. We started today’s race from the pit-lane, but I was only able to complete one lap before having to retire because of what looks like a mechanical issue – we still need to investigate what the exact reason is. It’s painful, but this is racing… Of course today I feel really frustrated, but tomorrow I will wake up and will have found the strength to move on. In moments like these I always remember what someone once told me: 90% of being a racing driver is tough but the remaining 10% is so good, that it’s all worth it – let’s just hope that 10% is back in Silverstone next week! We will definitely work hard to make it happen.”

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas:
“We definitely expected more points today. The main problem was getting the tyres to work and to last, so that is something we need to understand before Silverstone because the temperatures could be similar to what they were here today. I don’t think our car was too bad this weekend, we just really struggled to get the tyres to work. It was a disappointing day, but it’s going to be very important to learn from today to move on.”

Felipe Massa: “The race was going ok for me, I was fighting and gaining positions from the start and I had a very good pace during most of the race. Unfortunately, I had a puncture and had to pit for new tyres. I had been saving the brakes for the whole race, but at the end I was close behind Gutierrez so the temperatures rose even more and I had to stop.”