Targeting points at Marina Bay after qualifying

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Lance and Sebastian narrowly missed out on top-10 positions in qualifying after a gamble to switch to slick tires very nearly came good.

Torrential rain arrived at the Marina Bay Street Circuit ahead of Free Practice Three, delaying proceedings by half an hour, and even by qualifying the track had not fully dried up.

Both Lance and Sebastian showcased their wet-weather abilities in FP3 and were strong in the first part of qualifying, before a change to soft tires near the end of Q2 nearly helped them into Q3.

lance

Lance added 11 laps to his weekend tally in FP3, with a best time of 2.00.373 on Intermediate tires right at the end of the session.

Although the circuit had dried up somewhat by qualifying, it was still damp enough to necessitate the intermediate tire being used in Q1.

Lance’s first effort was a 1.56.997 which put him towards the top of the timesheets, before he followed that up with a 1.55.629.

He stopped for a fresh set of tires as the segment headed towards its conclusion. While he did not complete his final flying lap, he was safely into Q2.

Practice report by Aramco

A strong start under the lights in Singapore

Lance showed top-10 pace on the opening day of running in Sinagpore, as the team clocked up its first laps around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

read moreSingapore GP

Lance started Q2 with another set of new Intermediate tires, as the track continued to be slippery.

His single flying lap on the tires was a 1.54.211, before he pitted.

He then emerged onto the track on Soft tires – one of just three cars to do so – and was improving on his personal best in sectors one and two.

However, he locked up under braking into Turn 16, which was still wet, and he did not improve on his time.

This left him in 12th position and in the knockout zone.

“The switch to slicks in Q2 was a gamble today, but it looked like it was going to be the right call.

“However, I locked up into Turn 16, where it was still wet, after being a second up on my previous best. I still think it was the right thing to do.

“It is always challenging in these conditions, where you are having to judge how much grip will be at the corner before you arrive there, especially with parts of the circuit having a different surface to other sections.

“We have good pace to be able to challenge for points tomorrow and I am confident that we will be in the mix for the top 10.”

Sebastian

In the 30 minutes of running in FP3, Sebastian ended up eighth-fastest with a best time of 2.01.007 on Intermediate tires.

As Q1 started in the damp conditions too, Sebastian started on Intermediate tires and his first quick time was a 1.57.409.

He returned to the track on used Intermediates – one of just a small number of drivers to do so – and improved to a 1.55.602 to end the session 11th-fastest and into Q2.

Sebastian stayed with used Intermediates for the first part of Q2, and put in a best time of 1.54.380 with his first flying lap.

The crossover point for dry tires was getting ever closer, and Sebastian and the team opted to gamble on slicks for one final flying lap.

He switched to soft tires along with Lance and Zhou Guanyu for the final few minutes of the session.

Sebastian locked up going into Turn Seven however, which ruined his lap and left him 14th on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

“I think with hindsight it is easy to say that we made the switch to dry tires too early, but it was a very close call.

“We discussed it and made the decision together and maybe I should have trusted my instincts a bit more.

“When I was on the soft tires in the final moments of Q2, I had to really attack on the dry parts of the lap.

“I had a lock-up early on in the lap, but I think the final sector of the lap was still too wet anyway.

“For tomorrow, it would be helpful to have some more rain to mix things up again, but I think we have quite good race pace so we will try our best to challenge for points-paying positions.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal

“After torrential rain earlier this afternoon, the track surface was still damp in places when qualifying kicked off at 9.00pm.

“On Intermediates, we were 11th and 13th in Q1, then, at the end of Q2, having discussed the matter with our drivers, we fitted Soft [ie, dry] tires to both cars.

“Unfortunately, Sebastian went straight on at Turn Seven on his fast lap, thereby qualifying 14th, and Lance narrowly failed to get through to Q3, ending up 12th.

“Tomorrow we will be looking to fight for points.”

Practice report by Aramco

A strong start under the lights in Singapore

Race Preview by Cognizant

Singapore Grand Prix

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