Bojan Vrbnjak
Lewis Hamilton despite the seventh championship title, he does not give up even a millimeter. What's more, it looks as if he wants to score in the last three races max for your stats, which is already a record anyway. Now you already own it 98th pole position and what can happen for him to finish this season with a career-best XNUMX starts.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas again he had no recipe for defeating a superior champion in his own ranks. Unlike Turkey, it was Max Verstappen today he was satisfied with the third place, for which he gave his best and at the end happily added that he will be able to start tomorrow's race at cleaner side of the track.
Statements
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - pole position"Our performance here is a logical continuation of our good work throughout the season. I know how hard my team works every day, I know that now they have three races in a row again, without the chance to see their families. They put a perfect racing car on my wheels again. Otherwise, I wanted to come here and enjoy the ride. The pressure of fighting for the championship title is over, I can see that in my people as well, because there is less tension. As for the lap, you're always on a knife edge and it's the nature of a racer to always feel like it could be a shade faster here or there. I started the lap very well, but in the second turn I lost some time, also in the sixth turn. Otherwise, everything was fine. I could describe every bit of the track and explain where I could be faster, after all, it goes faster and faster, but there is no such thing as a perfect lap. But we can be satisfied with our performance today."
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - second place"My lap felt good and that's where the problem lies. I was happy with my lap, but then I saw the wheel on the monitor and I couldn't believe it. I was stunned by the backlog. The feel of the car is good, but the lap time is not, which is strange. I need to look at this in more detail later. I made almost no mistakes, not even big ones that would explain this huge gap. No major setup issues or anything like that. Maybe it's because I tried a different setup than Lewis. We'll see if that pays off on Sunday. If I want to beat Lewis tomorrow, I have to show a perfect race and that is also my goal. But I also expect a lot of resistance from Max, because Red Bull is often more competitive over longer distances."
MaxVerstappen, Red Bull - third place"My lap was good, I don't think I could have gone faster. For my taste, there was too little grip on the rear axle, in slow turns. But in the end, I would say that these qualifications were good. The good thing is that third place means I will start the race on the cleaner side of the track. This track is very rough on the tires, which makes it all the more difficult to predict anything for tomorrow's race. Mercedes really stepped up during qualifying, so it will be a tough job to beat them tomorrow. But we prepared different tires and different strategies. First of all, I have to focus entirely on a good start, and then I hope I can somehow stay close to the Mercedes. We lack a bit of speed to leave Mercedes behind. Lewis is one of the best racers out there. But I myself do not fight with the same means. But I don't mean to diminish his achievements in any way."
