Timo Glock praised his Virgin Racing mechanics after the German overcame a number of technical issues to out qualify his team-mate and take the fight to Lotus.
Glock will start twentieth for tomorrow’s race after experiencing throttle pedal problems during this morning’s practice session.
Lucas di Grassi still start tomorrow’s race two places further behind, after failing to complete a trouble-free lap in Q1.
Timo Glock – 20th: “It has been quite a difficult weekend leading up to Qualifying. We experienced a lot of technical problems throughout Free Practice and I couldn’t do any proper set-up work. This morning I had a problem with the throttle pedal and I didn’t have any proper running on the Option tyre, so we went pretty blind into Qualifying in terms of the set-up. In the end I was quite happy with the car, even though it still isn’t fully fine-tuned. However my two Qualifying laps were really good and I’m very pleased to be ahead of Lucas despite the difficulties. We’re also closer to Lotus, having beaten Jarno and being only two or three tenths behind Heikki. It is really positive for the Team and shows our aero package really works. With an easier weekend I think we would have been closer to them. We now have to wait and see how the race goes for us but I’m looking forward to a good fight with Lotus.”
Lucas di Grassi – 22nd: “I think we improved the car a lot since the last race. It feels much better and I’m looking forward to the Race tomorrow. For Qualifying we didn’t achieve the best lap possible because I wasn’t able to put a lap together and there is more to come from the car. The positive is that we are much closer to Lotus and our upgrades are proven to be exactly as we expected so I’m pleased.”
Nick Wirth, Technical Director: “That was fun! It’s been tough waiting for this moment, and to be in a good qualifying fight has certainly lifted the whole team. Lucas continued his great string of consistent and fast performances and the work that he and his engineers have done this weekend have been very valuable for the team. We aren’t quite there on car weight with Lucas’s chassis which is costing him a few tenths, but we’ll get there soon. It certainly hasn’t been anywhere near a smooth enough weekend on Timo’s car and we got another new front wing on his car with minutes to spare before qualifying. Frankly, he did a fantastic job considering his lack of running this weekend and that’s great for him. For the team, this session marks a clear step forward in performance where we have caught up Lotus and pulled further away from HRT, and it couldn’t be a more public validation of our digital development process. We’ll keep our heads down and focus on another strong two-car finish in front of our fans, friends and families.”
