Quali reaction

Marina Bay Street Circuit, Saturday 1 October

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Technical Director James Key after qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

“A good qualifying, if very tough. It was probably the toughest conditions of the whole season. There are just such fine limits between it going wrong and it going right. I think I took a good, but the correct amount of risk, and it paid off with a P6, which is better than we were expecting. Tough, challenging, but very happy with how today has turned out. A good position for tomorrow and hopefully we can turn it into some good points.”

“It’s obviously disappointing to be out in Q1 but to be honest it’s more frustrating that it didn’t feel like the same car as we had this morning. I know the track is a bit drier now but the slight change in conditions basically made us much less competitive. That’s where it’s really so hard to get a read on it. This morning I was quite comfortable with the car, all things considered, and even my first lap in Q1, I felt better than I did at the end when the track started to dry. That’s obviously somewhere we miss out, when the track does improve, and we can’t really run with it. So that’s really costly and I’m more disappointed in that fact than I am about the overall position. There were no big mistakes or anything like that, it was simply that we couldn’t go quick enough through the corners and make the most of it. We’ll see what happens tomorrow though with strategy and the weather and move on from there.”

JAMES KEY, Technical Director

“Challenging conditions today in Singapore. The wet start in FP3 was a missed opportunity to take the next steps with the new aerodynamic package being used by Lando, and further refine Daniel’s set-up. We were at least able to get a look at full Wet and Intermediate performance.

“Qualifying was something of a rollercoaster. Conditions weren’t particularly intuitive, with the track appearing dry but wet in some patches and offering a very fine line between the Inter and the Soft tyre. The team were very patient and disciplined in their approach, didn’t rush and assessed the situation carefully. It allowed us to use the tyre allocation well and get into a decent position in Q3 with Lando. He did an excellent lap, and it’s good to see the updates we’ve brought here seem to be having a positive impact. Sadly, Daniel couldn’t quite make it out of Q1 in that initial, congested period when it was difficult to get the tyres into the right window. He was capable of progressing further and I’m sure he’ll fight his way up tomorrow.”

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