Suzuka International Racing Course, Saturday 8 October

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Team Principal Andreas Seidl after qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

“Tricky qualifying, probably the most difficult we’ve had this year. I think there was a little bit more to find, but probably only one or two more positions on the grid. Our competitors look quick, but we'll look for opportunities to make up places in the race tomorrow and hopefully keep up the fight in the Constructors’ Championship.” 

“I’m disappointed with the overall result because the session was looking good. From the first lap, it was strong and I was comfortable. I think the 1m30.8 was a quick time on the first set of tyres. From there we were competitive, but it was hard to get much more out of it, and we were trying to push a bit more, but that hurt some other corners. I was hoping we would be able to keep gaining, especially with track evolution, but the gains at the end were very minimal, and it was really hard to make that next step. I think it was looking pretty good and then obviously to be out in Q2 was not really what we thought was going to happen. I think we were relatively competitive, but I think we were just ultimately missing that last little bit. 0.003s is painful, but we’ll try again tomorrow!” 

“We’re not entirely satisfied with P10 and P11 in qualifying at Suzuka today. Maximising everything would likely have gained us another place or two. At the same time, we have to acknowledge our primary competitors in the Constructors’ Championship have, this weekend, been better so far. But, the points get distributed tomorrow, and that’s a whole new day. Our starting positions give us a decent chance of being in the battle for good positions. It’s going to be a tricky afternoon if the current weather forecast materialises, and it will be important to execute a clean race regardless of conditions. We’re looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix. It’s a great circuit, filled with fantastic, enthusiastic fans, and we want to give them something memorable to cheer.”

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