8 July 2023 19:45 (UTC)
"There are definitely positives in the day, but the results unfortunately don't reflect that"
Hear from NEOM McLaren Extreme E drivers Emma Gilmour, Tanner Foust and Sporting Director Gary Paffett after the 2023 Island X Prix I in Sardinia, Italy.
Qualifying 1 – Heat 2 (race heat) | P5, 10:26.375 |
Qualifying 2 – Heat 2 (race heat) | P4, 09:05.315 |
Redemption Race | P2, 8:53.833 (6 points) |
“Today was a tough day. The track here in Sardinia is heavily favoured to the centre grid positions, and the positions for qualifying are done by a draw, so it really is a matter of luck where you will get to start your qualifying sessions from.
“We didn't have luck on our side, and didn't win that lottery, so we started from the outside lane, and it made our day quite difficult. The good thing is the car seems to be quick – the team has been working hard on ensuring it is. There are definitely positives in the day, but the results unfortunately don't reflect that. There was good racing from Tanner and myself in the Redemption Race as well, and finishing that in P2 was good, but other than that I think we are disappointed with the results.”
“Day one started off hard from the very first draw. We pick our grid positions from a hat, and unfortunately, we got the well-known worst spot possible, which made it nearly impossible to get into the Grand Final. We tried every option and I think we made good decisions along the way. However, it wasn’t enough for us to get into the Grand Final.
“In the Redemption Race, we found a little bit of redemption with a second-place finish, which gets us some valuable points, but that’s not where we ultimately want to be. Tomorrow, we will be racing again. We have a car with good pace, and we are ready to attack.
“Also, a massive effort by the Formula 1 team: P2 and P3 in qualifying, congrats, great effort!”
“A tough Saturday here in Sardinia. A lot of it down to the draw of the starting lane. We got to pick quite late, so we didn't have a great starting lane for the qualifying race. We found ourselves at the back of the field and didn't manage to make any progress really – seeing us finish last in that race, again putting us on the backfoot for a good grid position selection for the second qualifying race. We did manage to climb up some positions during that race, but it wasn't enough to advance to the Grand Final.
“In the Redemption Race we started in lane three, which was favourable. We had a pretty good start, and settled into P2. We were in contention for a podium finish throughout, and towards the end managed to get close to the Veloce car – close to winning that race. But in the end, we came second in the Redemption Race, which showed we have good pace in the car, and we can perform on track. Tomorrow, we will be hoping for a better grid position so we can fight for the best positions from the off.”
Championship standings after Round 5:
P1 Acciona | Sainz XE Team (90 points) P2 Veloce Racing (88 points) P3 RXR Racing (78 points) P6 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team (42 points)
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