Suzuka Circuit, Japan
5.807 km / 3.609 miles
Weather: Warm and dry
Temperature: Air: 22-23°C Track: 25-27°C
Q1
F. Massa 1:30.352 (9th)
L. Stroll 1:31.409 (18th)
Q2
F. Massa 1:29.687 (9th)
Q3
F. Massa 1:29.480 (9th)
Qualifying Notes
- Felipe Massa qualified ninth and Lance Stroll 18th for the Japanese Grand Prix
- Lance was unfortunate to be eliminated from Q1. He was blocked by traffic at the chicane at the end of both laps on his first run. He then had to abort his second run when Romain Grosjean crashed his Haas and brought an early end to the session
- Felipe made it safely through into Q3, with ninth place in both Q1 and Q2. He improved his time again in Q3 to retain ninth position again
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: There was one good story, and one not so good story today, unfortunately. It was a great job by Felipe, he drove some terrific laps throughout the three sessions to put the car in P9. We weren't as quick as any of the cars ahead, so we couldn't have expected anything better than that, so well done to him. On Lance's side, the real damage was done by the red flag which prevented him from doing a second run, where I'm sure he could have showed much stronger pace than he did on his first set of tyres. It's the third session this weekend both cars have been foiled at the start of their fast laps by red flags, so it's just one of those things. With the various grid adjustments, we will end up further forward for tomorrow. Even from Lance's starting position, points are possible, so we will see what we can do with both drivers.
Felipe Massa: I'm so happy with my qualifying. Q1 was a good lap, Q2 was a great lap, and Q3 was just a perfect lap, so I'm really happy with my result. We're starting in a great position and you never know what can happen tomorrow in the race. We'll try to get the best we can in terms of points. My lap time today was similar to when I was on pole in 2006, just the perfect lap, which gives you a lot of pleasure, so I'm happy with that.
Williams Grand Prix Holdings plc published this content on 07 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 07 October 2017 09:04:02 UTC.
Original documenthttp://www.williamsf1.com/racing/news/japanesegrandprixqualifying
Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/BC562E79C3076CF9CE69071493EFECCEB997D895