Ian James (Team Principal):
“Following strong qualifying performances, we had hoped for more from the race.
Unfortunately, Stoffel suffered a puncture after he got pushed from behind in Lap 16 and we decided to retire him from the race in order to prevent further damage to the car. We are currently assessing it in preparation for tomorrow.
Although Nyck was able to make some progress at the beginning of the race, following a long safety car period, it turned out to be a tough evening. Having narrowly missed the attack mode loops on his first attempt, he fell further back into the midfield. The subsequent push to regain places consumed more energy than we would have liked and he could not safeguard a points finish on the last lap, crossing the line P16. Adding the 10 second penalty, he classified P18.
Without a doubt, today has been a setback for the team, but tomorrow will provide another chance to come back strong.”
Nyck de Vries:
“My start was good, but it's difficult to get through the first corners well when you’re stuck in the midfield. That’s why I was initially a bit conservative and cautious. After that, my front wheels started to lock up, but I struggled to keep up with the other drivers as best I could. Unfortunately, I then missed the activation loop for the attack mode, which severely compromised the rest of our race. That was my mistake, and I apologise to the whole team for it. Unfortunately, with the long safety car deployment, we didn't have enough laps left late on to create a buffer for the attack mode. Anyway, I’m now focusing on the next opportunity to get a good result, which comes tomorrow.”
Stoffel Vandoorne:
“We were really, really unfortunate today. I am obviously deeply disappointed not to finish, because we were once again in a strong position. Looking at what happened late on, I am convinced that the race would have swung our way and we would have put in a super strong finish. However, we got hit from behind in Turn 9, which caused a puncture on the rear tyre, so unfortunately we couldn’t continue and had to retire from the race. I’m so disappointed – we were in a very strong position energy-wise. The car felt good, and I think we could have had a decent crack at recovering some places. If you see where Robin finished, I was right behind him and looking good on energy as well. It’s a pity, but we go again tomorrow.”
