2024 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, Saturday

Today in numbers

Sprint Race
Esteban P13 (1min 42.191secs); Pierre P15 (1min 42.017secs)

Qualifying
Esteban P13 (1min 35.223secs); Pierre P15 (1min 35.463secs)

Esteban Ocon: “Overall, it was a good day compared to where we were yesterday and in previous races. We had a solid race and gained four positions in the Sprint. It is our best starting position of the year and both cars into Q2, so it is a satisfying session from that perspective. It is a small step in performance but not a negligible one. Looking at the times, there is still a big gap to make up to those ahead. Seeing how the tyres behaved in the Sprint, the degradation was quite high but manageable, so hopefully it gives us a chance to fight throughout the race and at the end of stints. We will review what strategy options we have available to us and look to make progress in the Grand Prix tomorrow.”

Pierre Gasly: “I am happy to be back in China after such a long time, it is a very unique track and great to see all the fans in the grandstand. The Sprint race was quite eventful but a solid result for us. We have made quite some aggressive set-up changes ahead of Qualifying and we knew it was going to be a difficult session, as it has been tricky to get into Q2 for us this season so far. So, I am pleased we have managed to put a clean weekend together up to this point, getting on top of the tyres between each session. The race tomorrow will be very interesting, especially in terms of tyre degradation. We will continue to push hard and get as much out of the car as possible tomorrow.”

Julian Rouse: “Both drivers did a great job to manage the revised Sprint format. Esteban and Pierre had a clean race in the Sprint, and both progressed to the second part of Qualifying for the first time this season. The double Q2 appearance shows the team is making some progress, but we know there is still a lot of work ahead of us because the gap to those ahead is still quite big. It will be an interesting race, particularly with the degradation we saw during the Sprint. The drivers managed the tyres well and kept them alive to the end, allowing them to make moves in the final laps, which could be crucial in the Grand Prix tomorrow. We will carefully review the different tyre strategies overnight with the aim of looking to move forward in the race.”