16/11/2019
NEWS STORY
There is no real glory on Saturdays. There can be the fleeting satisfaction of a good result, but no tangible reward comes out of qualifying. The second day of track action is a crucial one, but just as a building block: you lay the foundations for things to come on Sunday. That's when it really matters.
Still, placing a car in Q3 (and one outside of it by a very small margin) is the kind of result that leaves us optimistic for the remainder of this Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. Kimi Raikkonen delivered a clinical display when it mattered, clearing each hurdle on his way to ninth place - and a P8 start on tomorrow's grid. On the track where he was crowned World Champion in 2007, Kimi showed his class. Antonio missed out on a place in the top ten for just 0.06s. On such a short track, in a crowded midfield, he pushed hard and gave it all, but in the end he ended up just short. Starting in P12 still gives him a great chance to make up places and return to the points.
Brazil is no stranger to eventful races. On such a congested track, strategy, pace and sheer luck all play a part, even if the weather does not intervene. Tomorrow's showpiece event will be long and unpredictable: but we did all we could to give ourselves the best chance for when the lights go out.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We can be satisfied with today's work, but we cannot get too carried away. Sunday is when the points are given out and we have a lot of work ahead of us to maximise our starting position. We have done a good job today and our race pace looked positive in practice, so we can hope for a competitive race. We will do our homework tonight and come prepared to make the most of our opportunities tomorrow."
Kimi Raikkonen: "We can be happy with today's result. The margins in the midfield are very close and you can make up a lot of places with just a small difference, but we will take P9 and see what we can do in the race tomorrow. I still feel we have margin for improvement, there is a lot more we can achieve but in the end you always want more. It's hard to tell how the race will unfold but we will try to do a good job and bring home a good result on Sunday."
Antonio Giovinazzi: "I knew I had a chance to be in the top ten, so I pushed very hard on my last lap of Q3. Unfortunately I spun and ended up missing the cut for just 0.06s. It is what it is, we knew the margins would be very small on such a short track but we still have a good chance to get in the points tomorrow. I was pleased with our race pace yesterday and we can choose our starting tyres, so hopefully we can make up a few places in the race."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Interlagos, here.