DANIEL RICCIARDO
”Coming into the weekend we thought that if we could be within two or three tenths of Mercedes then there was a realistic chance to stay with them in the race. We actually ended up closer to them than we thought in qualifying, so that’s good. If the start goes okay then it’s about trying to be smart and doing something with the strategy. If I can get close, then I’ll have a go, I haven’t been shy doing that this year, but it’s difficult on a street circuit. It’s close to home here and it’s nice to see a few Aussie flags in the crowd. Hopefully we can get a podium result for them tomorrow.”
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
“I’m not happy with that final lap, I was pushing a bit too hard and didn’t get it all together, so I’m not entirely happy, but it is what it is now. I think pole could have been in our grasp. We’ll hope to have a good race tomorrow, with good pit stops and a good strategy and we’ll see what we can do from there. I think we have good speed, but everyone seems to have good speed here. It’s a long race, so we’ll see how the tyres work and what we can do.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER
“Second row of the grid for both of the drivers in a really tight qualifying was a really strong team performance. It was very close at the end and it was certainly the closest we’ve been to Mercedes in qualifying all year, so hopefully that bodes well for tomorrow’s race and we can put them under pressure.”
THIERRY SALVI
“After a hard start to the weekend, the quali result is a good one for the team and we start just behind our main competitors. Sebastian suffered from the lack of running after his engine change yesterday, but Daniel was able to complete his programme and was particularly quick today. Hopefully our cars will be even quicker in race conditions, which could give us more chances to reach the front tomorrow.”