The Stake F1 team had a good day under the Doha lights, with Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas putting in a strong performance in the Sprint Race and qualifying sessions for the Qatar Grand Prix.
The team's qualifying performance was its best of the year: both cars made it through Q1 and were competitive in Q2, with Zhou finishing 12th and Bottas 13th, less than a tenth off the mark. of Q3.
These starting positions will allow the duo to be in the race for a place in the top 10 of the race from the start.
“I'm quite happy with the team's performance today, both in Sprint and Qualifying,” comments Valtteri Bottas.
“It's been a long time since we've been in such a favorable position, so that's certainly positive and hopefully we can turn that into a good result. The Sprint itself wasn't particularly eventful at the start of the day: I gained a place at the start, but then things calmed down quickly. At the very least, it gives us an indication that we can stay on the front cars in the race.
“I approached qualifying with some confidence: I was hoping to fight for a place in the top 10, but I felt less comfortable with the balance of the car compared to yesterday, which had an impact on my consistency throughout the session. However, we are in a strong position as a team to fight for points tomorrow, which is the most important thing.
"Today was a very good day," poursuit Guanyu Zhou.
“I actually think it was my best qualifying session of the year, and I'm happy to see once again that this new flat bottom is going in the right direction.”
“Earlier today we started the sprint race on softs to give us more options in terms of tire strategy for tomorrow's race. It was obvious that the soft tires wouldn't work, but we were nevertheless able to collect valuable data and information.”
“In qualifying, the team did a good job providing me with a well-balanced car, which allowed me to put in a good lap. We still have work ahead of us: let's focus on tomorrow, let's give it our all. We have and are doing everything we can to achieve a good result.”
