RED BULL - Spanish GP - Qualifying
Saturday 10 May 2014
SPANISH GP – QUALIFYING
SPANISH GP – QUALIFYING
DANIEL RICCIARDO, Position: 3rd, (3rd Practice – P7, 1:27.808
“Without putting too much attention on Mercedes, I'm happy with what I'm doing, so I think today was pretty good and I wasn't too disappointed with the lap. I don't really see how I could have improved much more today, so I think we're doing the best we can, but now that we're around third or fourth I want to close the gap to the silver cars! Sorry for Seb, he’s had a pretty rough weekend. I prefer it when we are both able to compete. Looking to tomorrow, then I think third is the best we can do. If Mercedes continue at the pace they had today then realistically we won't catch them, so then third, although it wouldn't be a victory, it would be really satisfying.”
“Without putting too much attention on Mercedes, I'm happy with what I'm doing, so I think today was pretty good and I wasn't too disappointed with the lap. I don't really see how I could have improved much more today, so I think we're doing the best we can, but now that we're around third or fourth I want to close the gap to the silver cars! Sorry for Seb, he’s had a pretty rough weekend. I prefer it when we are both able to compete. Looking to tomorrow, then I think third is the best we can do. If Mercedes continue at the pace they had today then realistically we won't catch them, so then third, although it wouldn't be a victory, it would be really satisfying.”
SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Position: 10th, (3rd Practice – P10, 1:28.085)
“I left the garage for Q3 and lost drive in second gear; I still had third gear and above so we thought we could do the lap with that, but by Turn 1 I had lost all the other gears, so we couldn’t continue. I was getting more in to the rhythm with each lap after missing yesterday’s sessions. It was quite close between the cars after the Mercedes and I think I could have had a go for P3 today, but we didn’t get that far. I’m of course quite disappointed.”
“I left the garage for Q3 and lost drive in second gear; I still had third gear and above so we thought we could do the lap with that, but by Turn 1 I had lost all the other gears, so we couldn’t continue. I was getting more in to the rhythm with each lap after missing yesterday’s sessions. It was quite close between the cars after the Mercedes and I think I could have had a go for P3 today, but we didn’t get that far. I’m of course quite disappointed.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “I certainly think today Daniel got every ounce that he could from the car and drove a very strong qualifying to line up third, and on the second row of the grid. It’s a great shame that we didn’t have Sebastian right there as well due to a gearbox issue that we’re yet to fully understand, so we’ll get the car back and see whether it’s a software issue or a mechanical issue that’s caused the problem.”
THIERRY SALVI: “We expected improvements here with programs having been conducted at the factory in different areas, including the ICE and energy management. There is a step compared to Shanghai but obviously everyone else has worked hard as well before Barcelona. It was not enough today in quali with Daniel securing 3rd place but not able to fight against the Mercedes. There is still a long way to catch the right performance level. Seb was unlucky as he had an issue after Q2 and was not able to complete Q3. It’s always hard to accept but that’s motorsport. A tough race is already planned for tomorrow!
*************************************************
DRIVEN TO RACE
Despite the hours in the garages, the travel, and the thousands of kilometres of testing and racing everyone in F1 puts in, throughout the team everyone is still very passionate about what they do. None more so than Team Principal Christian Horner, whose can date his passion for motorsport all the way back to a wet Sunday in Monaco in June, 1984…
1. What’s your first memory of motor sport? My first memory of watching a race was the Grand Prix where Nigel Mansell was driving a JPS Lotus at Monaco and lost it in the rain – so 1984. I was ten years old and I was just mesmerised by this sport. I became a big fan of Nigel’s
2. And did your pursuit of a career in the sport begin there? Absolutely. I became fascinated by speed. Any go-kart or any contraption on pram wheels I could drive down the hill in the village we lived in, I wanted a go at. I ended up getting a go-kart for my 12th birthday, which was a wreck and too low to go around the garden, so I went to a local karting track and discovered this world of kart racing. I fell in love with it.
3. What did it mean to you when you made the step up to F1? It was slightly nerve-racking! I was keen to work at the pinnacle of motorsport. I’d won in every category I’d operated in prior to that but Formula One is different to all other forms of motor sport. It was nerve racking but I was extremely grateful for the opportunity and determined to make the most of it.
4. Is it still a thrill? Every time you turn up at a grand prix you never know what to expect. There are highs and lows, but the highs far outweigh the lows.
5. It’s a high-pressure environment. Can you still have fun in F1? We try to have fun. I think it’s one of the things we have managed to bring to the paddock – a sense of fun. If you enjoy what you do, then you do it that much better. That’s the essence we have throughout the team and the factory: enjoy what you do and do it with a passion. Do that and you’ll get more out of yourself and more out of the team.
2. And did your pursuit of a career in the sport begin there? Absolutely. I became fascinated by speed. Any go-kart or any contraption on pram wheels I could drive down the hill in the village we lived in, I wanted a go at. I ended up getting a go-kart for my 12th birthday, which was a wreck and too low to go around the garden, so I went to a local karting track and discovered this world of kart racing. I fell in love with it.
3. What did it mean to you when you made the step up to F1? It was slightly nerve-racking! I was keen to work at the pinnacle of motorsport. I’d won in every category I’d operated in prior to that but Formula One is different to all other forms of motor sport. It was nerve racking but I was extremely grateful for the opportunity and determined to make the most of it.
4. Is it still a thrill? Every time you turn up at a grand prix you never know what to expect. There are highs and lows, but the highs far outweigh the lows.
5. It’s a high-pressure environment. Can you still have fun in F1? We try to have fun. I think it’s one of the things we have managed to bring to the paddock – a sense of fun. If you enjoy what you do, then you do it that much better. That’s the essence we have throughout the team and the factory: enjoy what you do and do it with a passion. Do that and you’ll get more out of yourself and more out of the team.
Tom Beeler
Tom has been a contributor to RIS since 1992. He was invited to join the staff as a full-time reporter/editor in 1995, and has covered IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, Grand-Am, ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to his RIS work, Tom has been a contributor for General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and the ACO.
Volume 2014, Issue 5, Posted 3:23 PM, 05.10.2014