Lando Norris (McLaren, author of pole position at the Spanish GP): “It was a perfect lap. It was very close and I’m very happy. I think it’s my best pole position, not that I have many (two), but it’s the best. It was close all weekend but it was just about putting in a perfect lap, and that’s what we did.
We’ve been fast the last two months, and since Miami we’ve been strong. We probably missed out on pole position just because we didn’t manage to do the perfect lap, but today (Saturday) we did. Max (Verstappen) and Red Bull have been a little bit stronger than us since the start of the weekend but we made a few changes before the last attempt and there was one place where I could improve.
Our goal is to win, but it will be difficult against Max and Lewis (Hamilton) who will be behind. But we are here to win now. »
Max Verstappen (Red Bull, 2nd in qualifying): “I think in qualifying things went more smoothly. As the weekend went on, we tried to find a better balance, which was difficult, but I was happy in qualifying. In Q3, I managed to take a slip on Checo (Sergio Perez) before turn 1. We did everything we could, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Overall, we can be happy with our performance in qualifying, but we will have a card to play in the race tomorrow (Sunday).
With cooler temperatures it made the session more fun, but the wind picked up and it made life difficult for us in Q3. But it’s still a great performance. In the end, there is never an easy pole, because it is a battle with yourself. But there are now a lot of teams in the game and it’s great for F1. And when it’s this close for pole, that’s a good thing. »
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, 3rd in qualifying): “I’m very happy to be back in the top 3. It’s been a difficult year so far, everyone has worked very hard at the factory to bring us back at the front and we can see this progress. I didn’t expect us to fight for pole, but we’re starting to get closer and I’m grateful that it’s almost there.
We’ve made big steps forward in recent times, and it’s thanks to everyone at the factory pulling in the same direction so that we can make improvements as quickly as possible on the Grands Prix. Little by little, this car is transforming into a racing machine that can help us fight at the front. I hope that with George (Russell) we will be able to put pressure on the two cars in front of us tomorrow (Sunday).
