BITTER SWEET
Positive signs as we enjoy a good fight with Sauber, but floor damage for Pascal and a pit stop issue for Rio made for missed opportunities
The Race, Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2016
Sunday 12 June
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
Pascal MRT05-03 P17 1:18.282
Rio MRT05-02 P19 1:18.658
Pascal Wehrlein:
“I got a very good start and managed to leapfrog Palmer and keep both Saubers
behind me before the first pit stop, although we had picked up some damage to the
floor when we arrived at the grid and I was losing lap time. By the time we got to the
final stop I was struggling with the tyres and that allowed Ericsson to get past. I was
still able to finish ahead of Nasr, which is positive, although it’s disappointing not to be
able to hold off both. I’m looking forward to Baku when we will hopefully get the
chance to show more of our improvement.”
Rio Haryanto:
“The first part of the race went well for me. I was keeping up with my team-mate and also
with Palmer and Magnussen ahead. At the first pit stop I expected to rejoin the race and
be racing with Ericsson but we had a problem which slowed the stop and I came out
behind Nasr instead. For most of the race I was catching Nasr all the time but the blue
flags meant that I would catch up then have to drop back again. We tried to go long for
the final stint and have a shorter run on the final set of Soft tyres but there was nothing
more we could do. On the plus side it’s another two-car finish for us and I hope we can
carry the positives into Baku next week.”
Dave Ryan, Racing Director:
“We expected to be able to race the Saubers today and that was indeed the case,
albeit we made life difficult for Pascal by picking up a small bit of damage to the floor
when he arrived at the grid. That cost him quite a bit of lap time so holding off Ericsson
for as long as he did – until his second and final pit stop – was all the more pleasing. He
got the advantage over Nasr, which was good, but not keeping both behind was a bit
of a missed opportunity today because it certainly looked within our grasp. With Rio
we also let him down a little with a slow first stop, which set him back and without that
he could have finished ahead of Nasr. Although all of that is disappointing, on the
positive side we’re pleased to see an improvement relative to Sauber.”
