Mercedes
Spain has proved a happy hunt for Mercedes in the past, and today there was no exception. Both cars made it easily with Q3 – Russell, Antoneley bus about enough. Once there, the teenager had only a set of fresh tires, but put them in sixth place for good use. Russell looked for P3, but finally had to compromise for the fourth as he had set the same time as Vastapane. This shows how tight the margin is, but with a slipstream tomorrow, Russell can be dangerous with that slot.
Highlights: Relieve the qualifying action from Noris to Noris in Spain as Piastry Pol position
George Russell, 4, 1: 11.848
“It is nice to come back near the front of the grid today and it is nice to live in this groove again after a difficult Monaco Grand Prix. The car liked today and it is not surprising to be with the same lap time as Max (Vastapane). It is not surprising. Except Monaco, we are in every race in every race since the season, and we challenge on one Saturday.
“We know that it is still a challenging race with these warm surroundings temperatures and a track temperature is to be a lower 50 ° C degree. Like Bahrain, however, we are able to manage tires better when they are at the most difficult ends of the pyreli spectrum. Hopefully tomorrow will happen tomorrow.
“McClances are still the major forces at the end of this week and it will be a challenge to fight with them. However, a podium is what we are targeting really, and I think it is worth receiving tomorrow. I started P4 in the same race last year and ended in the lead after a turn; I will definitely try to repeat that tomorrow!”
Km Antoneley, 6th, 1: 12.111
“After two hard race weekends, it is nice to come back to a good rhythm. It took me some time to make my speed at the beginning of the session, but I started to gain a lot of confidence after the lap.
“Unfortunately, with only one set of new soft tires for Q3, I was a little limited. I was not able to take a lot of risk, and I know that here and there were tenth to grab, but overall, P6 is a great from where I was in the first weekend.
“This is going to be a tough race tomorrow with these hot temperatures. Protecting tires will be a real challenge for the entire region. That is why we have deliberately focused at our long pace at the end of this week because we know that it is an area in which we need to improve.
Toto Wolf, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“We returned to the competitive end of the grid today which was encouraging today. Obviously, George is a little painful to see it to see the P4 when he could set the P3 a lap time as Max (Vestapane). We know what the pace of the race means to everyone, which is for your specific situation, as we have a struggle for this year, that is not only a struggle for your specific situation Not only seen in a hot race.
“This is why we decided before the weekend to focus on focusing on improvement in our long pace, given that this is the main area of improvement that we need to make with this car. Starting with both cars in the top six gives us a concrete result. We need to show that we have progressed with our race speed.
Andrew Showelin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We could do a little better than P4 and P6 today, which is disappointing. George matched Max (Vastapane) in a thousandth place and was not far behind the lando (Noris), but the smallest differences were still counted. Kimi was still to use more sets of soft tires. Kimi was to use more sets of soft tires. Was.
“The race is going to be difficult on tires tomorrow. It is really hot here in Barcelona and is going to make the temperature difficult to keep under control. We have done a lot of fuel work in free exercises, so hopefully both drivers will be prepared as much as possible. This is an area in which we need to improve, so tomorrow's race will offer a good exam.”
