Who said what after qualifying for the Belgium Grand Prix

Mercedes

Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton (C) of Great Britain and Mercedes GP attends the drivers press conference with second placed Sebastian Vettel (L) of Germany and Infiniti Red Bull Racing and third placed Mark Webber (R) of Australia and Infiniti Red Bull Racing following qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Lewis Hamilton 1st “A fourth pole in a row just feels fantastic! The team did a great job to get the timing at the end of Q3 absolutely perfect and I was in exactly the right track position. I was so surprised when I came across the line to hear I was P1. I went wide in the first corner and I thought I was down on time from the read-out on my steering wheel. I just kept pushing and did a strong middle sector, then I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end so it was a great feeling. I hope we can try and fight it out tomorrow, whatever the conditions. The Red Bulls are still ahead of us in terms of performance so results like this feel even more special because I know I’ve got the absolute maximum out of myself and out of the car.”

Nico Rosberg 4th “It was a very difficult qualifying session and unfortunately luck wasn’t on my side today. When I took the chequered flag, I was quickest at that time, but the track quicker and quicker for the guys who had got the extra lap and eventually ended up in the top three positions, so I must be happy with fourth place on the grid. Our car seems pretty good in all conditions here this weekend which makes me hopeful of a strong race performance tomorrow afternoon.”

Ross Brawn, team principal “It was obviously a very tricky session for everybody this afternoon and we were far from perfect but we did enough things right to get the job done. In the closing seconds of Q3, track position was critical and Lewis – running last on the road on the final lap – did a great job with the opportunity he had. We were not sure how it would turn out as DRS had been disabled for that final lap, then we saw his time in the second sector and started to get excited. Nico didn’t get the extra lap but he was fastest of all when his session ended and it’s a fantastic team result to have two cars starting in the top four after such a mixed qualifying. We are expecting similar conditions tomorrow so we will have a good chance of success. But we will have to run a smart race and make the right decisions to do achieve it.”

Toto Wolff, executive director “That was a very tough qualifying session and another one where it was easier to get things wrong than right. It was very close indeed for Lewis in Q2 when he made it through by just two-hundredths of a second and that showed how challenging the entire hour was in terms of tactics and strategy. It was crucial to get on track at the right time and our result in Q3 was a great team performance. Both drivers produced special laps: Nico was top of the timesheets when he took the chequered flag and then Lewis delivered another of his magic laps, especially in the middle sector. Our engineers have clearly found a good set-up for these mixed conditions and we are expecting more of the same kind of weather tomorrow.”

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel 2nd “It wasn’t clear if the first lap we did in Q3 was the lap on intermediate tyres – so it was hard to know where we were today. We went out on slicks to start, which was quite entertaining as it started to rain pretty heavily. We then went onto intermediates and it still wasn’t clear what would happen. It looked like there was more rain coming, so we all rushed to get a lap, but then it stopped and the circuit came back very quickly. The last lap tuned out to be the fastest with the circuit drying. It was difficult to know how fast you could go, I saw Lewis catching and thought I could have gone a bit quicker here and there, but in the end it was quite close across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. I’m happy today; the boys did a good job with the change from slicks to intermediates which got us an extra lap and it was a good day for the team.”

Mark Webber 3rd “It was a difficult session to make all the right calls, but in the end I think we got most things right. I think it’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, but in the end we did most things pretty good I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS going on and off in the session, but it’s the same for everyone. It was a ballsy thing to go slower on the second to last lap to save the tyres, when you’re still not sure if the track will improve for the last lap, but in the end it worked out and I’m happy to be up there for tomorrow’s race.”

Christian Horner, team principal “A really tense and exciting qualifying through all three sessions where the weather played its inevitable part. The boys did a tremendous job on the final turnaround in Q3 to get both cars back out on track so quickly, which enabled Mark and Sebastian to get three timed laps each; their last laps were enough to put them second and third on the grid. So, despite the opportunity to get everything wrong today, we managed to get most of it right. It’s good to be starting second and third for tomorrow’s race, which will no doubt see the weather play a part.”