On Track

Qualifying report by Aramco: Spanish GP

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team endured a challenging qualifying session for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were unable to make Q2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Sebastian

Sebastian completed 24 laps in the morning's FP3 session and lapped on the fringes of the top 10 ahead of qualifying.

Searing temperatures and rapid track evolution added another dimension to Saturday running, and the four-time World Champion made an encouraging start to Q1.

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Spanish Grand Prix

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Lapping in 1.21.271, Sebastian finished his first stint in eighth, before track evolution meant he was narrowly above the bottom five.

Sebastian bolted on another set of Soft tyres and made up further ground despite the build-up of traffic in the final sector to post a 1.20.954 effort.

Sadly, it was only enough for 16th as Sebastian missed out on Q2 by less than two-tenths of a second.

"We were looking stronger in free practice and I honestly thought we would do better in qualifying," said Sebastian.

"This afternoon, however, I struggled with the balance: I had a lot more oversteer and could not really carry speed into the corners without losing the rear.

"Still, the team has done an incredible job to bring two all-new cars to this race – that was a huge effort.

"The reward of all that effort is not showing quite yet, but I am sure it will come. Tomorrow is a new day and we will be pushing hard.

"It does not help when you start farther back, but I think we should be able to make up some ground in the race."

Lance

Lance would join Sebastian in making a decent first attempt in Q1, using the Soft tyre to lap in 1.21.939 to go 10th.

But that lap time was quickly rendered moot as track evolution bumped Lance down to 17th and at risk of exiting in Q1.

Taking on a new set of Soft tyres, Lance improved his provisional lap time in the first two sectors, but lost time in the third, costing him significantly.

While his lap time of 1.21.418 was an improvement, it left the Canadian in 18th ahead of tomorrow's Grand Prix.

"It is a disappointing result today," said Lance. "I have struggled with the balance of the car all weekend and, when you do not feel comfortable, you cannot set fast laps.

"We know it is early days with this package, though, so we need to make sure that we understand the reasons for today and see how we can improve the set-up moving forward.

"Now, it is about focusing on tomorrow. The conditions are likely to be very hot and the tyres need to be managed, so maybe we can make up ground with a good strategy. We will see."