• Valtteri Bottas qualified 3rd with Pastor Maldonado 13th for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix.
• Valtteri showed consistently strong pace in the changeable wet conditions, finishing in the top four in all three qualifying sessions and securing his best qualifying position of the season so far.
• A red flag in Q2 prevented Pastor from finishing his fastest lap, and heavy traffic at the end of the session hindered him from setting a time that could challenge for a place in Q3.
Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: The conditions were changeable today making it difficult for all teams. We feel that we have made another step forward in performance, but ultimately today we were able to capitalise on the conditions. We worked well as a team to get the best position on track at the right time, and P3 was the result. If it is dry tomorrow it will be difficult to hold that position but we will be fighting hard for points with both cars. It’s a well-deserved result for Valtteri and for the whole team and it gives us all a real boost after all the hard work everyone has been putting in. Pastor is starting just outside the top ten as he couldn’t complete his quickest laps in Q2 due to the red flag and traffic, so he will also be pushing hard to bring home some points tomorrow.
Valtteri Bottas: It’s a great feeling to qualify in third place and the team did a really good job today. The showers made the track very slippery but this suited us as the car handled the conditions well. We were on the right tyres at the right time which was so important today. If the conditions are dry tomorrow then it will be difficult to stay where we are, so I will be hoping that we see some rain. The whole team has been working hard to improve our performance and we have been making steady improvements with each race.
Pastor Maldonado: Today the conditions were very challenging for all the drivers as the track was changing with every lap and you needed to be out at the right time on the right tyre. We were more competitive today and I think the conditions really suited us. I was unlucky in Q2 because I was on my best lap when the red flag came out, and when the session resumed there was a lot of traffic around me. Valtteri qualifying in third place gives the whole team a boost and hopefully we can score points tomorrow.
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