Lance and Checo looking to bounce back after tough Quali in Austria

‍It was a tough qualifying session for Racing Point at the Red Bull Ring as the wet weather prevented Lance and Checo replicating their strong pace in practice.

Lance came closest to earning a Q3 appearance after sitting comfortably inside the cut-off for Q2 with a succession of quick laps on the wet compound tyre – a best time of 1.19.697 in the final minutes of Q1 placing him P8 at the end of the session.

The Canadian then took to the track once more in Q2 and battled his way above the cut-off in the early running. In a brief window of respite from the weather, he looked set to improve further and secure a Q3 place – posting a personal best in sectors one and two before crucially losing grip at the final corner.

With margins as tight as ever around the short lap of the Red Bull Ring, that was enough to confine Lance to P13 on the grid for tomorrow’s race – missing the cut by just a tenth of a second.

‍A post-session penalty for a rival driver then elevated Lance to a P12 starting spot for the Grand Prix.

Checo, meanwhile, had an even trickier afternoon and will line up P17 on Sunday’s grid after struggling to get his wet tyres up to temperature in the first half of the Q1 session and being deprived of a final flying lap by a late red flag.

After earlier attempts were hampered by traffic in the treacherous conditions, the Mexican began to put together a promising lap that looked set to secure him a place in Q2 and potentially allow him to fight for a Top 10 starting berth.

It wasn’t to be, however, as a late red flag caused by a rival crashing in the final minute cruelly forced Checo to abandon the lap, with his best effort remaining a 1.21.607 and P17 on the wet compound tyre.

pite a disappointing day today, both drivers were in confident spirits for tomorrow’s race, with the RP20 having looked promising during Friday’s Free Practice sessions – which took place in dry conditions, as predicted for tomorrow’s race.

Lance: “We were competitive throughout Q1 and Q2, but we lost some grip at the crucial moment in Q2 and just missed out on making Q3.

“We need to look into the causes of that overnight and we’ll make sure we come back stronger tomorrow in the race.

“We know we have a good car in dry conditions, so we can aim to make up places tomorrow and achieve our goal of scoring points.”

 Checo: “It’s a big shame to qualify P17 because we have shown that we have good potential this weekend. It was difficult to get the wet tyre up to temperature, but I was on for a good lap at the end of Q1 until the red flag stopped me improving.

“We’ll go away and learn from this, analyse the data and hopefully understand why we couldn’t maximise our potential today. It’s always challenging to make up places, but we have a good car underneath us and we’ve shown in the past that we can bounce back.

“Tomorrow is a new day and the target will be to score points.”

Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: “Ultimately a disappointing session when you consider the pace we have shown in the dry yesterday. Both drivers were not totally comfortable in these very wet conditions and that’s something we need to understand.

 “It’s the first occasion to run in the wet this year and it was a big learning experience for everybody. Sergio felt he couldn’t get enough temperature in the tyres early in the session and his final attempt was ruined by the red flag.

‍”Lance was comfortable in Q1 but complained about worse grip in Q2. In the end he was just a tenth shy of making Q3.

“There’s still plenty to play for tomorrow with dry conditions forecast. We have a quick car and a double points finish is still achievable.”