Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher qualified in seventh and eighth places this evening at the Yas Marina Circuit ahead of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Nico completed one run in Q1 on prime tyres, two runs on the same set of options in Q2, and one option run in Q3. Michael completed a prime and option run in Q1, two option runs in Q2, and one option run in Q3. Both Mercedes GP Petronas drivers have one set of new options and two sets of new prime tyres available for the race tomorrow.

Red Bull Racing

Christian Horner

“An unbelievable final lap from Sebastian, to get the pole in what was a really exciting final qualifying tonight. It’s a remarkable achievement for him to equal Nigel Mansell’s 14 poles in a single season, which by coincidence also happened to be achieved in an Adrian Newey designed car back in 1992, with a Renault engine. It was a tremendous achievement for Sebastian. In such a tight
qualifying session, it all came down to the final run and Mark in P4 was only two tenths off the front row; it demonstrates just how tight it is this weekend. I’m sure we’re set for a really exciting race tomorrow.”

Cyril Dumont, Renault

“I think again today we had an incredible Vettel. This year is simply his year and today he has equalled Mansell’s record for the number of poles gained in one season. He also equalled Fangio, in terms of number of poles gained in his career, so it’s his year. It will be interesting tomorrow, Mark is not far away from the front either and we have some good memories from this track, so it will be interesting tomorrow to see where we finish.”

Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes

Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“It may sound a little churlish to say that we’re a bit disappointed with second and third today, but the honest truth is that we are.
Granted, second and third is a pretty creditable result – it’s a platform from which we can win tomorrow in fact – but I don’t mind admitting that we were eyeing pole position today. Lewis and Jenson both did a good job though – and, looking forward, they’re both great racers and we think we’ll have a strong race package for tomorrow. Our long-run pace has been impressive all weekend, and we think we’ll be in good shape on both the Prime and the Option [tyre]. People tend to opine that it’s difficult to overtake here in Abu Dhabi – and so it is. But there are two DRS zones, and of course there’s also the all-important drag down to the first corner. Beyond that, you’ve got to get the strategy right, and let’s just say that we intend to pile the pressure on tomorrow afternoon!”

Scuderia Ferrari

Stefano Domenicali

“We weren’t expecting any surprises and we did not get any. We know what is our potential in qualifying and, in order to get onto the front two rows, something special must happen: in India that was the case, but not here, so our positions are relatively easy to understand. Just to make it clear, it’s not a case of being pleased with this result in absolute terms, but neither should we be trying to fool our fans by claiming to be able to fight for the win. Tomorrow, we have every chance of fighting for a place on the podium: it won’t be easy, but neither will it be impossible. In a track where, as we are only too aware, overtaking has never been easy, it will be interesting to see how effective will be the two zones where we can activate the moveable rear wing. Strategy, the work done by the drivers and the team, tyre behaviour and reliability: the usual parameters will once again hold the key.”

Pat Fry

“We can be neither surprised nor disappointed with this result, because we are where logic says we should be. Looking carefully at the times, sector by sector, one can see that Fernando was at the level of the fastest in the first two, but paid a penalty in the third, where there are more low speed corners and where traction is more important. In fact, that’s not surprising either, as we know this is our Achilles Heel. Tomorrow, we can expect a pretty standard race in terms of how it evolves strategically. For the first pit stop, it will be important to find the right moment to stop out of traffic. The tyres are working well, even if we had a few problems in getting them immediately up to temperature, especially with the Mediums. As for the choices relating to the front wing, with Felipe we decided to use the old type, because despite the efforts we have made these past weeks, we have still not resolved some problems relating to the behaviour of this new part, which furthermore, seem to be contagious… We will continue to work on it, including during the three days of testing at this track next week.”

Mercedes GP Petronas

Ross Brawn

“It was a reasonably straightforward qualifying session for us today with both drivers and the team doing a very good job. There was a little difference in straightline speed on Michael’s car which hampered his pace in relation to Nico so we need to have a look at that and understand why. Otherwise we are in good shape for the race and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Norbert Haug

“The best possible job from our team, Nico and Michael today. We have again been mindful of our strategy in order to save tyres for the race tomorrow, and we hope this approach will be to our benefit as has been the case in recent races. We would like to take the opportunity of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to express the whole team’s appreciation for our partner and co-owner Aabar which is, for our home race, also visible in increased branding on our cars. Today six Mercedes-powered cars made it into the top ten on the grid, the second time in the last five races.”

Sahara Force India F1 Team

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director

“I’m very pleased with our performance today and with both Sahara Force India cars starting from the fifth row of the grid we are in good shape for tomorrow. It will be an interesting race because we have seen that the tyre degradation here is not that severe, which means we need to think long and hard about how we will use the strategy. With just two races to go we are not underestimating how important it is to score points here to strengthen our grasp on sixth place in the constructors’ championship. I believe we have the speed to do so, but as I’ve said before you never know until it’s in the bag.”

Sauber F1 Team

Peter Sauber, Team Principal

“After some difficult qualifying sessions in recent races, we were able to make a step forward today, which is really positive. Sergio drove a very good lap and just missed making it into Q3. He was able to keep the Toro Rosso cars, our direct competitors, behind him and also the two Renault cars, which was positive. For Kamui it didn’t work out that well. However, I’m confident about our performance for the race where it will be crucial to manage the tyres properly.

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering

“Our goal for today was to improve our qualifying performance, and Sergio’s 11th place shows that we achieved this goal. In the third free practice we mainly worked on the mechanical set-up of the car. Sergio was able to put in a very good lap, while Kamui was a bit unlucky. It is puzzling to us that both our drivers set their quickest lap times on used soft tyres. We have to analyse this. Now our goal for the race is to score points.”

Lotus-Renault GP

Alan Permane

“We always knew this weekend would be a bit of a struggle if you look at our car and this track. This season, we haven’t performed well on tracks with predominantly low speed corners. We felt we would be strong to be just outside the top 10 and that’s just where we ended up. We could have been 11th and 12th but I don’t think Q3 was possible for us today. Bruno made a small error during the flying lap in Q2 and he could have been very, very close to Vitaly. However, I think you get that up and down the entire field; everyone could have eked out a little extra so I don’t think we can look too much into that. It will be a tricky race but we will do our best to score points. We will have to look at things tonight to see how we can extract the maximum from what could be a difficult day for us. Quite simply, we are where we are because of our pace. We need a slice of luck or some help with some people not finishing, but what we need to focus on is having as strong a race as possible, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Scuderia Toro Rosso

Giorgio Ascanelli

“We are running at a track where car balance, which is our forte, is not so crucial, while braking and sheer grip is more important and we are not so good in these areas, although I should make it clear that is no reflection on Brembo who is doing a good job for us. We struggled a bit in finding the best set up, however given the situation we found ourselves in yesterday, I would say we have made a step forward today. Overall therefore, these positions are not too disappointing. This is a case where we can apply the cliché that we should be better in race trim than in qualifying: Sergio is a tenth ahead and Kobayashi is a tenth behind, so it should be an interesting and exciting battle tomorrow evening. Fortunately for Pirelli, but unfortunately for us, the tyre situation looks stable so I am not expecting any unusual developments on that front to come along and help us and make it more fun.”

AT&T Williams F1

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer

“That was obviously a very disappointing day for Rubens having had an engine issue disrupt his P3 running and then stop him setting a lap in qualifying. Pastor made his way into Q2 but will take a grid penalty due to having a ninth engine fitted at the start of the weekend. Both drivers therefore start from the back but we look forward to seeing them attack in the race.”

Team Lotus

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader

“We saw from Heikki’s fastest time that the work everyone put in last night and today gave us the performance we were looking for. With the change in track temperatures we do have to give the drivers different engine maps to suit the ambient temperatures, as well as maximising performance for the specific characteristics of this track, and the times we put in on both cars, especially considering the lack of running Jarno had earlier, puts this down as a good qualifying session for the team.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer

“A reasonably satisfying qualifying session for us. Obviously Jarno had some ground to make up after losing this morning’s session with a gearbox issue that we were able to fix in time for qualifying. Heikki put in another very good Q1 and extracted as much performance as he could out of the car, so they both did well today. We put both cars on two runs in the session, first on the medium compounds and then on the softs, and we finised the session closer to the pack ahead than we have all season, so that points towards another strong Sunday for us. The key now is to maintain the pace we have shown since Singapore and make sure we bring both cars to the chequered flag without any problems.”

Riad Asmat, Group CEO

“I think we can be reasonably pleased with today’s performance. Heikki put in another incredible lap, getting it just right in all three sectors to finish as close as he did to Michael ahead, and Jarno had to perform in a car that he had barely had track time in today and managed to put in a good lap, pretty close to his team mate. Two more races to go, one tomorrow and then the final race in Brazil in two weeks, and two more races for us to secure that all important tenth place. If the drivers and the team can keep up the level of performance we have seen today and for a good part of the whole season, I think we will be ok.”

Marussia Virgin Racing

John Booth, Team Principal

“A good result for the team in qualifying today. Jérôme progressed well over the course of this morning and it was pleasing to see him opting for the bold strategy of a single hot lap right at the end of the session. Timo was less happy with the car on his first run in qualifying and this forced him to be slightly more conservative with a final three-lap run. Looking at his time, and correcting it to a more optimal single timed lap, I think we can be pleased with where we are relative to our competitors. We spent a lot of time before coming here analysing our performance in recent races in order to make the most of the last two rounds of the season. As a consequence, we took the decision yesterday to focus our set-up towards the race rather than qualifying, so we’re optimistic that we can enjoy a strong two-car finish tomorrow. As always here in Abu Dhabi, the track and its spectacular backdrop will add an extra special dimension for ourselves and the fans.”

HRT F1 Team

Colin Kolles, Team Principal

“This morning we had a trouble-free session which allowed us to complete the programme and prepare for qualifying. The afternoon qualifying session started quite well too, but Tonio had an issue on the front suspension which has to be investigated and that prevented him to pull out a perfect lap in the end. Daniel was ahead of both Virgins but lost a couple of tenths on the second sector that left him right behind Glock. Nevertheless, the pace that both drivers showed over the different sessions is good and there is almost no difference to our direct rivals. Tomorrow, if we all do our best and stay focused from the beginning to the end, I am confident that we can get a good result for the team that would allow us to finish the season on high spirits.”