Find the reactions after the qualifying session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, dominated by Sergio Pérez ahead of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.
Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull Racing) – Pole position
“It was a difficult Q3, especially when I couldn’t finish my second flying lap. Q1 was really good. When you get a good lap, you really feel the car come to life. It’s a shame for Max Verstappen because he was very solid all weekend. I hope that the two single-seaters can finish in front. You never know with the reliability issues of these cars, they can hit you at any time. »
Charles Leclerc (MCO/Ferrari) – 2nd
“To be honest, in general, Red Bull Racing is on another planet. Our race pace seems to be not too bad this weekend. In any case, compared to Red Bull Racing, there is perhaps less difference compared to what we saw in Bahrain, it’s rather positive. Afterwards, from there to go fight for victory tomorrow (Sunday) and come back up, I don’t think so. What is difficult is that the first six or seven cars are all very close in terms of race pace so I hope we don’t stumble from sixth or seventh place but the goal is clearly to come back and maybe try to get a podium. It would be beautiful. »
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) – 3rd
“It’s been a very good weekend for us so far. Qualifying was our weakness in Bahrain, but here we performed really well on one lap. We will see on Sunday what we can do with Charles Leclerc’s penalty. So we will be on the front line. We are confident. The strength of our car is the long stints and tire management. We are better on Sunday than on Saturday. »
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) – 4th
“I would certainly have signed for a 3rd place on the grid, I’m really happy to be honest. It’s fun to drive on this track, the car felt good. Obviously, we’re a bit lacking in overall support, but that’s more than we could have hoped for given all the circumstances. We’ll have to wait and see the Grand Prix tomorrow (Sunday) but it’s going to be an interesting race. We think we probably have a better race car than qualifying so I’m happy to start third. I’m sure we’ll do our best, but when Red Bull Racing has such a fast car you have to expect Max Verstappen to pass us at some point. You’ve seen what he’s done since fifteenth place last year at Spa-Francorchamps and he’s got a faster race car this year. »
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) – 5th)
“It was not a good qualifying session. From Q2 I had to use two sets of tyres, then it was difficult for me in Q3. On the last lap I tried to push more and made a mistake and lost a few tenths. If you don’t have a good day, you don’t understand the tire, you lose tenths that cost more places than last year. At least the race is tomorrow (Sunday). I am fifth, fourth because of the penalty imposed on Charles Leclerc. The race is tomorrow (Sunday), that’s the good thing, even though I didn’t have a good day today (Saturday). Tomorrow (Sunday) we can come back. We have the rhythm to fight for the podium. »
Esteban Ocon (FRA / Alpine) – 7th
“It was a good qualifying session, given where we were starting in the third free practice session, we reversed the performance, it was much better. The car behaved well. I hit the wall twice on the last lap, it was really hot, I took all the risks. It was nice, but we still have work to do. Max Verstappen will go too fast for us, that’s for sure, but I think we can fight with Lewis Hamilton. We saw from the long stints on Friday that we were good, even better than on a qualifying lap. It’s up to us to put everything in place, for the moment it’s a good start to the weekend, we’ll have to do well again on Sunday. »
Pierre Gasly (FRA / Alpine) – 10th
“It was really very complicated. I didn’t manage to do a good lap in qualifying, it was much more difficult than in the third free practice session. There is still a lot of work to do, things to improve. But we start in the Top 10, we are in a good position to get points. I was really happy during the third free practice session, we had found what I needed, but it didn’t happen again. There is everything to play for from ninth place, but we will have to work. »
Max Verstappen (PBS/Red Bull Racing) – 15th
“It’s a little early to say exactly what happened but it’s not what we wanted. We suffered a break in the transmission. We must try to limit the damage tomorrow (Sunday). I think I’ll be able to come back up but win the race, I don’t know. I will not give up and we will see what will happen. »
Sources: official Formula 1 interviews, Canal+, Sky Sports
