F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying: 11th and onwards F1 driver comments[F1-Gate.com]

Comments from drivers who finished 11th or higher in qualifying for the 2023 F1 Round 22 Las Vegas GP. The highly evolved new surface of the Las Vegas Strip circuit created some surprises, with top-ranked drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez dropping out in Q2. Yuki Tsunoda finished the session in 20th place.

11th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): “It wasn’t a great qualifying session, but this is what it is. I really struggled with the lack of grip and couldn’t use the tires very well throughout the session. It’s not ideal though. , it’s a problem I’ve had all along. We’ve seen a fair amount of track evolution. Not a crazy amount, but it’s enough to knock me out because I couldn’t improve my last lap time in Q2. In practice, we saw tire graining both above and below the field, so it will be interesting to see if that continues in the Grand Prix.Tomorrow we will focus on tire management, tire carry and pushing. I think the key will be what we do and what we don’t do, and how we proceed. We made some changes to the car before FP3 and I hope they will help in the race.” 12th: Sergio Perez (Red Bull) ” It was a qualifying session where we didn’t have much luck.It was a close race between cars, but we weren’t able to bring out the maximum potential of the machines.We should have had a faster pace, but we couldn’t reach it, so we need to investigate the cause. .Also, our running plan may not have been accurate.We finished Q2 early with 4 minutes left, and the road surface seemed to be getting better after that.We need to improve as much as possible. d.This is a result of our best effort, and we have a strong race car ready, so we should be able to aim even higher.I think DRS is very effective on the strip, so we will be patient and trust our own pace. It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow for sure.” 13th: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) “I think we have the pace and obviously we have it because Kevin is there. I also have the pace.” Unfortunately, I locked up at the 7th corner and couldn’t do a clean lap on the important final lap.I feel like there’s still half a chance that I’ll be able to race and compete tomorrow. I’m hoping that the low max will help, and the only thing left is a graining issue, but I think all machines have similar issues. Graining is to be expected, so I’m trying to avoid that as much as possible. It’s important to avoid that. No one has raced here before so it’s a question mark, but maybe we have a chance.” 14th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) “The feeling of the car today was It was pretty good and I was happy with the last lap, but I think I lacked a bit of straight-line speed in Q2. If the field is very tight, that could be the difference between getting knocked out and going to Q3. Tomorrow’s race will be difficult considering the grid penalty, but I think we have good pace in the corners and can control the tires well. I want to make the most of this situation and enjoy racing in the streets of Las Vegas.” 15th place: Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) “The new asphalt has low grip, and on this surface, which is open to the public during the day, the grip is very low.” I’m struggling to get the best out of it.I made big improvements overnight from yesterday, but there wasn’t much more I could do today.I’m glad I was able to improve enough to advance to Q2, but I didn’t have enough quickness in my first shot. , I was also struggling to handle the tires as I expected.I’m confident in my long runs, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.I can’t predict how the race will go, but I think I’ll be able to put up a good fight.”16th place: Lando – Norris (McLaren): “Qualifying ended in a disappointing result. In FP3, the pace wasn’t bad, but in qualifying, it didn’t go well. The tires didn’t perform as well as I expected, and the graining was bad. So maybe we should have used the second set. We still have a chance tomorrow. The pace of the car was better than in qualifying, and there are a lot of cars out of position. We had a strategy tonight. We want to be in the points tomorrow.” 17th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine) “Today’s result is difficult to swallow and once again it didn’t go our way. Getting out of Q1 is never easy.” Not really, especially with the pace we were able to show. Looking at the data, we should have easily qualified for Q2, so it’s even more disappointing that we weren’t able to take advantage of the car’s performance. The first lap. Then on the second lap, I lost time and momentum due to an incident with Max (Verstappen) in Turn 1, losing about 7 tenths of a second.Then I kept pushing for the rest of the laps and almost improved. Unfortunately, we were eliminated. There were positive things today and our car is fast here, so we have a lot to fight for tomorrow as well to achieve a good result. I’ll do my best.” 18th place: Chou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) “My pace was decent and I think I was able to fight for a spot in Q2. Unfortunately, I ran into traffic on the last lap, and when the track was in its best condition, I lost my time.” Still, I think we were able to run with our main competitors and have hope heading into the race. Starting from the 9th row will certainly be difficult, but we keep our options open. I have to. With a good start and an aggressive strategy, I hope to improve my position as much as possible.” 19th place: Oscar Piastri (McLaren) “Qualifying obviously didn’t go to plan. We need to review our tire strategy. I think you can understand why we were at the back of the pack.The behavior and pace of the tires after FP3 was a little unexpected.It looked promising.It’s a shame, but it’s been a long time here. There are a lot of straights, so I hope I can move forward again tomorrow.” 20th place: Hiroki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) “I’m at a loss for words. I could have done more, but I wasn’t able to give my best performance.” I’m very disappointed. I tried my best but it wasn’t good enough. Straight…