Sergey Sirotkin felt getting so close to escaping from the first phase of Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix shows that Williams Martini Racing has made gains since last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Russian ultimately failing to advance by just 0.049 seconds.
Williams has struggled for pace so far in 2018, with only Lance Stroll in the Australian Grand Prix managing to escape out of Q1, but for Sirotkin, this was the closest he has come to doing just that, only to be denied a Q2 spot by Brendon Hartley.
The Russian was slightly disappointed that a he did not maximise his second flying lap in Q1, and he feels that had he done that, he could have made the jump into Q2, which would have given the Williams team a timely boost after their difficult start to 2018.
“We were very close to Q2 and we have improved from Bahrain,” said Sirotkin. “I think we have continued to work well and we’ve done some good work through the weekend.
“We went P10 this morning, which is extraordinary given our shape at the moment. Even the first lap in Q1 was really decent. I don’t think we maximised the second lap, and we can find more time there.
“Maybe not as much time as others, because I think our first run was better than most of them, but still I believe we could have got a little more which would allow us to jump into Q2. I’m sorry about this, but at the same time we’re moving forward step by step.”
