Sauber secured their best qualifying result of the season so far at a rain-affected Silverstone today, with Kamui Kobayashi putting his car eighth on the British Grand Prix grid, and Sergio Perez putting his C30 in P12.
“It was a tricky qualifying with the constantly changing conditions,” said Kobayashi. “It was extremely difficult to predict what would be right and what would be wrong, but we have handled this quite well.
“In Q1 I struggled a bit because I wasn't used to the car's balance on the hard tyres, and didn't have a chance to do a lap on the soft compound because the rain set in. In Q2 the track conditions were still tricky and damp, but in Q3, when I did my final lap on fresh soft tyres, everything worked out the way it should do.
“I am happy with this lap and I am especially thankful to my team because, due to their hard work, we recovered from [my crash] on Friday morning. Now I want to make the most of all this in tomorrow's race.”
Perez was disappointed to be so close to getting into Q3 and then missing out but, overall, is pleased with how the day has gone. “I think we did a good job today,” said the Mexican. “It is a shame to miss Q3 by 36 thousandths of a second, but I'm quite happy with our performance. Because of the changing conditions it was not an easy qualifying.
“Overall here our car is good. This is thanks to some improvements but also down to the circuit. The high speed corners suit us quite well. From where I will start the race I have every chance to score points tomorrow, and I am very much looking forward to my first British Grand Prix.”
Team principal Peter Sauber was very pleased with the result today. “It has become even more difficult to get into the top ten, and this means you are going to be even happier when you make it,” he said. “Congratulations to Kamui and his crew, as today timing was also very important. Sergio's 12th place is also alright, and he has saved a set of fresh tyres for the race.”
