Yas Marina Circuit, Saturday 12 December

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Team Principal Andreas Seidl after Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

CARLOS SAINZ, #55

	FP3	1m37.068s (+0.817s)	12 laps	8th
	Q1	1m36.517s (Softs)		10th
	Q2	1m36.192s (Medium)		8th
	Q3	1m35.815s (Softs)		6th

“A very good day for the team. I think the main thing is that we got the two cars into the top six on split strategies as well. I started off strong, using only one set of tyres to make it into Q2. I had a good feeling with the Medium tyre yesterday and I wanted to give it a go in Q2, managing to put together a strong lap and qualifying for Q3 on that compound. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put together my best lap on my final run in Q3. Some overheating on the rear axle and a couple of mistakes on my side meant I couldn’t qualify further up.

“I wanted to get the highest possible result in my final quali session with the team and maybe I pushed too hard! It’s a shame, but overall I’m happy with what we did in Q1 and Q2 with the Medium tyres, which puts us in a good spot for tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to fighting for McLaren one last time and hopefully bringing home a good result. Vamos!”

LANDO NORRIS, #4

	FP3	1m36.994s (+0.743s)	13 laps	5th
	Q1	1m36.016s (Softs)		5th
	Q2	1m35.849s (Softs)		5th
	Q3	1m35.497s (Softs)		4th

“Very happy, I felt like I did a really good job. I was very comfortable in the car and felt like I nailed my lap on that final run. I definitely took another step forward in Q3, which I’m really pleased about. We're ahead of a few people we didn’t expect to be ahead of, so great work by the team at track and at the factory to get us in this position.

“I’m on a Soft start tomorrow and some other cars around me are going to be on the Medium, so I think it’s going to be an interesting race. It’ll probably be quite tough in the first stint, but starting from the second row gives us a great chance to score some decent points. We had good pace today and we'll do our best to carry it into tomorrow.”

ANDREAS SEIDL, Team Principal

“Congratulations to the entire team, both drivers and our colleagues at Renault for one of the best qualifying sessions we’ve had this year. There was a clear plan today, it was executed well in the garage, and the drivers were able to deliver the laps when it mattered. Carlos did a great job to get through Q2 on the Medium tyres, which will give him a small advantage tomorrow, and Lando put in a brilliant final lap in Q3 to start P4.

“Having said that, the car has been competitive all through practice, and the team has been able to improve it step-by-step. It’s testament to a lot of great work that’s gone in back at the factory this year, continually pushing development and improving the car throughout the season.

“We won’t get carried away with one good Saturday, because the points are distributed tomorrow. We’ll focus on preparing for this final race of 2020 in the same way we've prepared for the previous 16. It should be a compelling Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.”

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