On Track

Poised to score points at Spa after qualifying

Both Lance and Sebastian will start in the top 10 for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

The team added 34 laps to its tally in the final Free Practice session, and will start on row five after qualifying for the Grand Prix.

Lance

Lance focused on Soft-tyre compound running during FP3 and put in a best time of 1.46.975 during his final run to finish the session 16th-fastest.

For the first part of qualifying, Lance did two runs on new Soft tyres, with one flying lap on each around the longest circuit on the calendar.

His first lap was a 1.46.719, and he improved on his second set of tyres to finish 14th, squeezing into Q2 with a time of 1.46.256.

Practice report by Aramco

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In Q2, Lance did his first run on a used set of Soft tyres and put in a time of 1.47.111. He swapped to a new set for his second effort but could only improve to a 1.46.611.

Lance qualified 14th, but power unit penalties for multiple cars higher on the grid mean he will start ninth on Sunday.

"It was tricky out there today. There was a general lack of grip, but we need to look at why we lost time as qualifying progressed. We had hoped to be better than 14th.

"However, we normally race better than we qualify, and we will gain a few extra positions due to the grid penalties given to some of the cars in front of us, so I am confident that we are in a solid position to score some points tomorrow."

Sebastian

Sebastian showed solid form in FP3, spending much of the session on the Soft tyre and going eighth-fastest with a time of 1.46.166 during his 18 laps across the hour-long session.

In Q1, Sebastian did two runs on fresh Soft tyres, with a single flying lap on each. His first time was a 1.46.543.

His second time was a 1.46.344, which was a frustrating two milliseconds away from making the cut into Q2. He finished the session in 16th.

However, Sebastian will start in 10th after penalties applied to six drivers in front for various power unit element changes.

"I know I could have gone faster today; I did not drive a perfect final lap. I struggled a little to string it together this afternoon – I just did not have quite as much trust in the car as I did in FP3.

"And that led to the car sliding around – it was not too bad but it has a large impact, especially around a longer lap such as this.

"We will gain some starting positions tomorrow due to the grid penalties applied to other drivers – we will not keep everyone behind us, but it gives us more of a chance.

"It is a new day tomorrow and we have the chance to score points."

Mike Krack, Team Principal

"Sebastian missed out on getting through to Q2 by just 0.002 of a second, having lost time in Turn One.

"Lance lost time in Turn One in Q1 as well, but he got through to Q2 nonetheless, in which session he was then 14th-quickest.

"Obviously we would have preferred to have posted qualifying laps quicker than we did, but the larger than normal number of penalties incurred by drivers ahead of us leave us in P9 and P10 on tomorrow's grid.

"Our aim tomorrow will therefore be to try to hold on to points-scoring positions for both drivers."