Interlagos, Sao Paulo
4.309kms / 2.677 miles
Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri Bottas qualified fourth and Felipe Massa eighth for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix
• Valtteri will start the race from seventh on the grid, following a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag in practice on Friday
• Both drivers improved their lap times in each qualifying session, but traffic cost Felipe time in both Q2 and Q3
Weather: Warm and Dry
Temperature: Air: 29-30°C, Track: 45-51°C
Q1
V. Bottas: 1:12.934 (9th)
F. Massa: 1:12.980 (10th)
Quickest Time: L. Hamilton 1:11.682
Q2
V. Bottas: 1:12.373 (5th)
F. Massa: 1:12.858 (10th)
Quickest Time: L. Hamilton 1:11.665
Q3
V. Bottas: 1:12.085 (4th)
F. Massa: 1:12.415 (8th)
Quickest Time: N. Rosberg 1:11.282
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Valtteri got all he could out of the car, but Felipe is still missing a little bit so we need to understand why. We now have to focus on the race. The championship position is a priority and we’re in a good position against Red Bull. We need to push on and come out of this race with more points than them, and see what we can do about Ferrari. That’s an important target for us in the next two races.
Valtteri Bottas: It was a good qualifying session. I felt more and more comfortable with the car as the grip of the track increased. It’s always a good feeling when you have got the maximum out of the car. It was good to have one quicker car behind, which is always nice. With the penalty I’m starting seventh but we can do a lot of good things from there, it’s a long race and we have good race pace.
Felipe Massa: The struggles I had yesterday are still there. We have made changes but I am still losing time in sector two. Normally I don’t have any issues on this track but for some reason it’s not working for me. We will have to look and see where we can gain some time with the limited options available now. The fans will give me such a boost tomorrow so I hope it can be the deciding factor and things will be in my favour.
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