MAX VERSTAPPEN Position: 5th 1:26.602 (Practice 3 – P5 1:28.012)
“I was actually very happy in Qualifying and we made a good step with the car but if you lose one second or more on the straights it’s going to be difficult around here. This track is getting less and less favourable for us which is a shame. In the end we were eight tenths behind but can actually be quite happy with what we did and the car was performing really well. No regrets, but I just wish that we had a bit more horsepower. It’s going to be hard tomorrow and I think with no luck we will most likely finish fifth as that’s the pace we have in the car but with a bit of luck of course we can move forward. I hope it’s not going to be a boring race but at the moment I think we may be in a bit of a no-man’s land. For sure in the race we will lose less on the straights, but maybe still five or six tenths which is still way too much. This year showed that sometimes when you expect the race to be boring it is actually quite entertaining, so I hope everyone keeps their televisions on.”
DANIEL RICCIARDO, Position: 6th 1:27.099 (Practice 3 – P6 1:28.018)
“Today was challenging and a bit frustrating. On the best run in Q3 I didn’t have DRS working between turns four and six so we lost a bit of time there but we were missing a lot already. Silverstone has proven to be a real horsepower circuit these days, a lot of the corners are full throttle, turns one, two and nine are not really corners anymore, it’s all about horsepower. Knowing how much we lose on the straights and then losing DRS was pretty frustrating. We kind of knew yesterday that we were going to struggle to be better than the third row, so we’ve set the car up more for the race, so let’s hope that pays dividends tomorrow. I’m hoping it gets hotter and hotter so the tyres become a factor, if it’s a one stop race then it obviously limits our chances but if it’s on the cusp then it could be interesting. Let’s hope the fans need factor 75 tomorrow, if that even exists (laughs). We’re still a long way off Ferrari and Mercedes but in the race things can change so hopefully tomorrow provides something a bit different. In Austria we didn’t really seem that fast but in the race we turned it around which gives us some optimism.”
