Spanish GP: Stroll qualifies 17th
FALLING BEHIND PEREZ IN QUALIFYING, MISSED Q2 BY 0.086S
It is a though mid-field in F1 as like last year and if you can’t get a good lap together when it counts most, the slightest setback drops you down the order.
Following a promising Friday where Stroll’s quickest lap times were good enough for 13th in Bothe free practices, qualifying did not go like he wanted: “It is frustrating to be out in Q1. I didn’t maximise the lap, but we knew this weekend would be tough. It is still very tight in the midfield and we were fighting with Renault for space in Q2, but every little detail counts when it’s that close. We usually race better than we qualify so we will analyse the data overnight and see what tomorrow brings.”
Sergio Perez had a better third free practice this morning and had the 14th fastest time in Q1 but was not able to better his position in Q2 and qualified 15th for tomorrow’s race. And for Perez tomorrow it is really where it counts: “It’s been a disappointing weekend so far and I don’t have the answers as to why at the moment. This track demands a lot from the car – it has a bit of everything – low, medium and high-speed corners – and it’s never been our best circuit over the years, so I’m not too concerned. In any case, I’m looking forward to tomorrow – that’s the day the counts and hopefully we can score some points. It’s going to be tough because track position is very important here, but we will try our best. I think our race pace is looking better than our qualifying speed so that’s a positive. Let’s see what we can do with the strategy to move forward in the race.”
Image: Racing Point F1
