Charles Leclerc was unimpressed with his Ferrari machinery after qualifying in Saudi Arabia.
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin are out of ideas after he qualified P13 with Lance Stroll 16th.
The team have yet to score a point from the first four rounds of the season and speaking in Jeddah, Alonso said: It hard because if I crash, everyone will blame my mistake…
Im not satisfied with the position we are in. I think we ran out of ideas at the moment.
Lando Norris has been warned his mistake in qualifying yesterday is the kind that will cost him Drivers Championship glory later this year.
Timo Glock, appearing on Sky Deutschland, said: That shouldn’t happen to him in the decisive moments. That costs you the championship in the end.
The most important thing is that you don’t let yourself be dragged down by these questions, which will always be the same in the end.
It hurts, but he is now experienced enough to know what he has to do to get out of it and perhaps try to take a deep breath after the triple-header, clear his head and then attack again. It’s not coming easy at all.
I’ve just got to keep on taking a deep breath. I’m sure the team are not happy. And I’m not happy with my results.
But all I can continue to do is continue to try believe in myself, stay positive and keep working at it. And that’s what I’m trying to do.
Max Verstappen has conceded he not that confident of holding McLaren Oscar Piastri back in Jeddah.
Up until now, Im not very confident, to be honest, said Verstappen. My long runs weren particularly great compared to Oscar or Lando. Im going to give it everything I have, for sure. I don know.
The car definitely took a bit of a step forward compared to what we were testing on Friday, so I hope that will help our tyre life out as well.
Norris will start 10th but Piastri is second and will be eyeing a first corner overtake on the reigning world champion.
Oscar Piastri is confident of testing pole-sitter Max Verstappen in Jeddah later today.
The Saudi Arabian track is notoriously difficult for overtakes but the McLaren title hopeful believes he can put the strain on Verstappen.
The Aussie will be hoping to remain second to undercut or overcut Verstappen given today race could be a one-stop.
I think weve got good pace. I think the Red Bull and Max look more competitive here than they did certainly last week in Bahrain, said Piastri.
Suzuka is not a completely different layout to somewhere like here with a lot of high-speed corners, so it kind of makes sense to me at least that they
e a bit more competitive, and well see if that translates to the race.
Im feeling confident in what weve got.
Here one that a little bit awkward for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari…
Carlos Sainz has now out-qualified Lewis Hamilton in back-to-back Grands Prix.
Hamilton of course replaced Sainz at the Scuderia and the Spaniard will certainly be enjoying the fact he getting the better of the seven-time world champion in qualifying – especially seeing as he doing it in a Williams.
However, Sainz still only got a solitary point to his name. Hamilton has 25.
Ferrari are confident Lewis Hamilton can launch a comeback today after struggling in qualifying yesterday, says Fred Vasseur.
The Scuderia team principal is optimistic that Hamilton can bridge the gap to team-mate Charles Leclerc despite the fact he not fully confident in his car just yet.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Vasseur said: Anything is possible, we usually do better in the race. We’re always struggling in the first sector, the car’s balance is complicated.
Lewis was almost nine tenths behind the pole and I think that, not having full confidence in the car yet, he’s struggling a bit on this track so limited by the barriers.
But in Bahrain, he made a good comeback and we think it can happen tomorrow too.
I’m disappointed because we’re not here to have a 3 tenths gap, but the race is open. There’s a lot of balance behind the McLarens.
Lewis Hamilton has often blamed himself for his problems at Ferrari so far – but might it be his car to blame after all?
Charles Leclerc, in P4, qualified nearly half a second quicker than seventh-placed Hamilton, but still had complaints after qualifying.
He told Canal+: Im disappointed once again, it been like this all season. But if we do a good start, why not?
Hamilton himself said: It been challenging as always in qualifying for me. Ive been nowhere all weekend and 13th I think in almost every session. Trying to find the time to bond with this car on single lap is something Im finding very difficult at the moment.
But we don give up and there always a way.
Drivers Championship leader Lando Norris cut a frustrated figure after qualifying last night as an error consigned him to starting 10th today.
Norris crashed out after losing control at Turn Four and admitted he has left himself with a big job to try and do.
He said on the team radio: F***** idiot.
And afterwards, in the media pen, the Brit added: It almost impossible to overtake around here, so Im not expecting anything magical.
But we have a good car, so if we can work our way up to the top five, six, I will say Ill be happy.
I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 lap, not taking any silly risks like I seem to have done.
I shunted, so I am not going to be proud, Im not going to be happy, Ive let myself and the team down and the guys have a big job to do to fix it.
