MERCEDES AMG out of Q3 in Japan

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg qualified in 13th and 15th positionstoday for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. Knowing that he would take a ten-place grid penalty, Michael took anaggressive approach to qualifying He made a single Q1 run on the prime tyre, and a single Q2 run on theoption, to finish the session in P13 Michael will have four fresh sets of tyres (two prime, two option)available for tomorrow's race Nico finished P15 but will start further up the grid, with a free tyrechoice, once penalties have been appliedDrivers Car No. Chassis No. Practice Qualifying 1Qualifying 2 Qualifying 3 Michael Schumacher 7 F1 W03 / 09 P4 P161:33.349 P13 1:32.469 - Nico Rosberg 8 F1 W03 / 07 P5 P121:33.015 P15 1:32.625 -

Weather Warm Temperatures Air: 26-27C Track: 32-36C

Michael SchumacherIt was a shame that we couldn't do more today, after things hadn't lookedtoo bad this morning, but we simply didn't get the performance together.Although we should also say that, knowing the high-speed characteristics ofthis circuit, we didn't necessarily expect to look in great shape here.Perhaps I could have made it through to Q3, because the data showed that Ilost two-tenths in turn 11 because of traffic, but I wasn't quite sure whatHamilton was doing ahead of me. I saved a lot of tyre sets and in thatrespect got the maximum out of the situation. Now we need to wait and seewhat happens tomorrow. I will be certainly aiming for the best possibleresult, starting from the back of the grid.Nico RosbergIt's been a difficult weekend for us. Qualifying in 15th place is not wherewe want to be although I will gain some places due to grid penalties. Thetimes were so close today and it's disappointing that we couldn't make itthrough to Q3. Our pace felt better on high fuel, so hopefully this willwork out well in the race and I can gain positions.Ross Brawn Today has been fairly challenging for us and it goes without saying thatwe're not happy to see both cars knocked out in Q2. We've done a lot of workin the last few races exploring the performance variables of the car andwhilst that has increased our understanding, it's still not enough to becompetitive. The balance of the car isn't too bad though, and we seem tohave stronger race pace, so we will try to race well and see what we canachieve.

Norbert HaugWe struggled to get further than the second part of qualifying, when thefastest time was a little less than a second quicker than Michael's best. Hewas missing two-tenths of a second to proceed to Q3 and Nico four-tenths. Asa consequence, we will not be in the grid positions where we would haveliked to start the race from.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,520 articles