Sachsenring 2007 after the race
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What the teams said – Race day in China
RED BULL
Verstappen once again struggled off the line, dropping a handful of places as a result. Hadjar got away slightly better, with both opting for the soft tyre – the only team to do so. But then the Frenchman spun by himself when fighting with Bearman, and had to pit at the end of the first lap to get rid of his flat-spotted tyres.
That left Verstappen as the lead Red Bull, but his race was further hampered when he pitted one lap before the Safety Car came out, the timing not favouring the Dutchman. He did climb back into the points, only to have to retire the car with an ERS issue. Hadjar eventually scored his first points for the team, but could only come home in P8 at the end of a difficult weekend where neither driver scored in the Sprint either.
Max Verstappen, DNF
“It’s been a very challenging weekend for us overall. We unfortunately had to retire today in the race due to an ERS cooling issue, which is not what we like to see. We faced the same problems that we had in Melbourne: we had a lot of degradation and were still struggling with the pace and the grip. We tried a different procedure to help with the start, had a similar issue and lost quite a few positions at the beginning, ending up at the back of the grid. There are quite a few things we need to go away and analyse and learn from in order to improve our overall performance of the car. It is not where we want to be and something we will be looking at in detail ahead of Japan. The team are very talented and working on doing everything they can and I have a lot of confidence in them but at the moment we aren’t where we want to be. We do have a bit of time after this race to work on the car so hopefully we can work on improvements. Finally, congratulations to Kimi on his first race win: the first one is very emotional, and it was only a matter of time that he was going to achieve this.”
Isack Hadjar, 8th
“It’s a shame I wasn’t able to score more points today. I had a good start and had decent initial pace in the early laps. I enjoyed the fight with Ollie, it was good to race, but then the rear snapped out so fast and I lost the car. I had to then come through the pack, but I got some good overtakes and managed to work my way into the points. We got a little lucky with some of the cars ahead, but it’s still nice to get my first points with the Team. At the moment, we’re just lacking pure car performance to be competitive with the teams at the front but we’re understanding how to improve the car and its balance with each weekend.“
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
"The Chinese Grand Prix proved to be a very tough event for us from Friday onwards. Being on the back foot at the start of a Sprint weekend is the worst possible scenario as there is really little time to catch up and get on top of any difficulties.
"We knew that just getting onto the grid in Melbourne with our own PU was a major achievement in itself and it would have been naïve not to expect we would encounter reliability issues. Today, we had to retire Max because of a coolant fault. However, this was not our only issue as overall, performance wise, our package showed some significant shortcomings.
"However, we have learned so much over the past few weeks and I expect that we can be more competitive from the next round in Japan in a fortnight’s time. After that, the unfortunate but inevitable cancellation of the races in April will give all of us a chance to catch our breath and work as hard as always in Milton Keynes.
"We have a great group of talented people on the campus and I have full confidence that we will get through our current limitations thanks to a massive push from everyone, and improve our package rapidly”.
(via formula1.com)
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What the teams said – Race day in China
RACING BULLS
Lawson started on the medium tyre, Lindblad the hards. And it was the former who was going well early on, only to pit one lap before the Safety Car came out. That was a moment of bad luck for the New Zealand racer, but he was able to fight his way back into the points after some fun battles with his fellow midfield runners. Lindblad had a different race, opting not to pit under the Safety Car. That jumped him up the order and he stayed out the longest on the hards hoping for a second Safety Car. That did not come, so he dropped out of the points when he eventually pitted – and was not helped by one spin under his own steam.
Arvid Lindblad, 12th
“It wasn’t the easiest weekend for us. I had a good start and the race was going okay until the Safety Car came out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the ideal timing for our strategy as it was too early to pit onto the Mediums, so we were forced to stay out on the Hards. It was a different weekend compared to Melbourne. It was built differently, as this was a Sprint event on a new track for me, and with only a few laps completed during practice. There are definitely learnings I can bring forward, as well as things I can improve and look at together with the team before going to Japan.”
Liam Lawson, 7th
"I’m really happy with our result today. To be honest, we didn’t quite expect it, but our pace was strong towards the end. We had a poorly timed Safety Car, and at that moment I thought our race might be over. It turned out to be a really enjoyable race and we managed to pull off a few overtakes. Bringing it home in P7 feels great. Full credit to the team from a strategy standpoint, we did everything right this weekend and securing two point finishes shows how well the team executed. We’ll keep pushing to find a bit more speed for next week and the coming races, and hopefully we can fight even further up the grid.”
Alan Permane, Team Principal
“To come away with a total of 8 points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team. It was a very well executed race. We were unlucky with the Safety Car as we pitted Liam the lap before, but he drove a really great race. He was under a lot of pressure at one stage from Hadjar and didn’t put a foot wrong, delivering a solid result. Starting on the Hard tyre, the Safety Car came at the wrong time for Arvid, which comprised his race and all the cars that started on the Hard tyre. A tough weekend for him, but the learning continues. A sprint weekend at a new track was always going to be tricky and especially where he didn’t get much track time in FP1.
“It’s a quick turnaround now, back to Europe for a week before heading out to Japan. It’s a circuit that presents very different configurations and challenges compared to the last two races, and one we’re looking forward to taking on.”
(via formula1.com)
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Salute to America’s Courageous Independent Journalists:
Posted Sunday, December 28, 2025 4 Am EST
Sunday, March 15, 2026 5Am EST
@nickshirleyy @nicksortor @PressSec @realDonaldTrump @POTUS
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What the teams said – Sprint day and Qualifying in China
RACING BULLS
It was a mixed bag for Racing Bulls, who called Lindblad into the pits to retire the car midway through the Sprint. Having also stopped out on track in FP1 on Friday, the rookie is very short of laps this weekend. Lawson started on the hard tyre, which proved a masterstroke. It looked by far the best compound and he rose through the field to score two points – but will only have one set of hards tomorrow for the Grand Prix, which might cost him then.
Both cars were then a tad unlucky in Qualifying, their last laps in Q2 hampered by yellow flags and leaving neither with a chance to improve. There were further reliability worries for Lindblad too, who was called into the pits in Q1 with an issue. He will hope for his first clean session of the weekend tomorrow in the Grand Prix.
Arvid Lindblad, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 15th, 1:33.784
“I felt really good in the car during Qualifying. I made a few mistakes in a couple of runs, but in my last lap, I was up by three tenths. I don’t know if I would have gone through Q3 but I was improving, so it was just a bit of a shame having the yellow flags in the last corner. Overall, we missed a few laps between yesterday’s FP1 and this morning in the Sprint, but this is the situation we’re in and it’s not something we can make up, so we just have to get the most out of it. I think it will be an interesting race tomorrow and it will be important to get the tyre management and the strategy right. We’ll do our best and see if there are any points we can get.”
Liam Lawson, Sprint: 7th, Qualifying: 14th, 1:33.765
"Sprint this morning went really well. We had strong track position towards the end, so when the Safety Car came out we didn’t want to give that up. It was a bold strategy, but it worked out nicely and we were able to bring home some points.
“Qualifying was a bit messy and we struggled to string the session together. However, we were on a really good lap at the end and had everything coming together before the double yellow flags forced us to abort in the final corner, which was a shame. Tyre and energy management will be really important tomorrow. It’s going to be tough, so we’ll need a strong race strategy, which we’ll be working on tonight.”
Mattia Spini, Head of Trackside Engineering
“Today delivered the kind of action you typically expect from the Saturday of a Sprint weekend. We made an unconventional call to start Liam on the Hard tyre for the Sprint, expecting the compound to be more resilient to graining. It proved to be the right choice and allowed him to work his way through the field into the points when the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 13. Liam managed the restart well on the cold Hards, holding the position and finishing in P7.
"Unfortunately, Arvid spun on Lap 1, and we decided to retire the car in order to give ourselves enough time to carry out additional work and ensure it was in the best possible condition for qualifying later in the day.
"In Qualifying, we used two new sets of Soft tyres on both cars in Q1, giving the drivers the best opportunity to adjust back to low fuel after the Sprint. Both progressed into Q2 and were finding a significant amount of lap time in the second run, before a double yellow appeared in the final corner, forcing both laps to be aborted.
"Our strategy group will now focus on identifying opportunities to move forward in tomorrow’s race, which is likely to be another eventful one.”
(via formula1.com)
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A few people have asked me about this paper. This is a long piece, but probably not all you were looking for.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/arts/music/best-classical-music-albums-march-2026.html
My Mother in Love: The Summer Sessions in the NYT
“Flanked by strings, winds, electric guitars and percussion, Mundy’s voice shifts from the fragile wail of an indie darling to a clean classical soprano with an unstudied air. There are shades of Sprechstimme, dissonant melodies and contemporary classical flourishes, crossed with echoes of St. Vincent and the sweeping folk strings of Fleet Foxes.” - Gabrielle Ferrari
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Our band enjoyed some press on Culver City News ahead of our latest Cinema Bar show, check it out here.
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Executive Values in Crisis: How Integrity Preserves Long-Term Trust
Look at the news from the past year, and you notice a trend that hits hard for any company leader. Executive actions turn into real business effects faster than most boards expect. Investors pull funds, regulators step in, partners hesitate, and employees leave — all because of a gap between what a CEO claims and what happens on the ground. You, as a senior leader or board member, deserve a clear picture of how personal choices create company risks. Even better, you can flip those risks into solid gains.
I break this down into three key steps for governance: catch problems early, build stronger signals, and plan your recovery. Catching early involves setting up systems to spot when your operations stray from your stated principles. Building signals means turning those principles into things you can check, like reports, records, and tied incentives. Recovery gives you a clear path to rebuild trust, with steps focused on real results instead of showy regrets.
You can take these ideas and apply them directly. Use them to update your board, craft a statement for media, or lay out the first 90 days of fixes that keep your company’s value intact. Have you ever stopped to ask how your own team’s actions match your public promises? I remember working with a mid-sized tech company where the CEO’s casual tweet contradicted their inclusion policy. That one post led to a quick 12% drop in new client sign-ups. A study from Deloitte shows similar patterns — nearly 70% of consumers now avoid brands if leaders act out of line with values.
Start by putting executive values at the center of your checks. Create habits that make these values easy to see and hold accountable. For a food brand I advised, the CEO talked up ethical sourcing but chose cheaper suppliers with spotty records. Media picked it up, and sales dipped 10% in key markets. Ask questions like this: What daily steps prove your values? How do you monitor them? Answer those, and you shield your business from avoidable hits while showing stakeholders you’re serious.
Where Public Trust Cracks: Leadership Integrity
When leaders send mixed messages through their actions, people outside the company start piecing together their own explanations, and those stick around. You have to pinpoint the spots where this risk is highest. Look at your major investors, key customers, main suppliers, and important regulators. For each one, build a basic system to track things. List out the behaviors you commit to in contracts or policies on one side. On the other, jot down the actions you can actually observe to confirm you’re delivering.
Pick one executive to handle each group, and set them to report every 48 hours. This setup keeps information fresh and lets you act fast. Picture a logistics firm where the board tracked customer expectations on data security. They noted policy promises like encrypted transfers, then checked visible proof through audit reports. When a supplier glitch showed up, the executive in charge spotted it right away and fixed it before customers complained publicly.
Try this step: Have your CEO write a short weekly memo, just one page, covering three recent choices and how each one fits your public principles. Make it straight facts, something you file away as proof. This creates a record that fills in potential blanks. Ask yourself how this changes your approach to decisions. From my time helping a bank, this memo routine reduced internal confusion and lifted staff satisfaction scores by 18% in follow-up polls.
Put leadership integrity front and center in your daily operations. This means making consistency a habit that everyone can rely on. If you catch those early signs of trouble, small problems stay small. Reports from McKinsey indicate that companies with strong leader accountability see 25% better retention rates among top talent. By tracking these key groups, you give your team a roadmap to hold onto that trust.
Expand on this with real-world examples to see the value. Take a consumer electronics company that ignored supplier checks. Investors expected fair labor standards based on the CEO’s speeches, but reports surfaced about overseas factories cutting corners. The stock took a 15% hit in a month, and regulators launched reviews. They could have avoided it by assigning owners early and verifying actions against expectations. In your case, start small — pick one group, like investors, and test the tracking for a quarter. You’ll likely find gaps you didn’t know about, and closing them builds a stronger foundation.
Detection and Accountability: CEO Ethics
Spotting issues quickly calls for a mix of listening closely and checking facts. Create a feed that gathers investor feedback, top customer issues, and any regulator notes. Give each item a score based on its potential to shake your market standing. Then, double-check by matching statements against hard evidence, such as signed agreements, email chains, and meeting summaries.
Spot a mismatch? Pull together a small team — your lawyer, comms lead, and chief aide — within 24 hours. Spred Global Communication can review as an outsider, confirming if your steps match your rules. This brings in fresh eyes that build confidence.
Build a checklist for these moments: cover where the issue came from, the claimed facts, backup materials, possible fixes, and who takes charge in 72 hours. Share it across the company and have the lead present results at the next board meeting on risks.
I saw this work for an energy company. The CEO pushed green initiatives publicly, but a partner complaint revealed fossil fuel ties still in play. Their feed caught it, verification through contracts confirmed the gap, and the team resolved it swiftly. This kept partnerships intact and avoided a projected 20% revenue loss from boycotts.
Make CEO ethics a core part of how you run things. Consider this: If scrutiny hits tomorrow, do your files support your story? Regular checks turn threats into routines you control. PR helps spread the word about your ethical focus. Spred secures spots in outlets like Forbes or WSJ, turning that ethics into visible wins, such as boosted brand loyalty or easier talent hires.
Dig deeper into accountability with data. A Harvard Business Review analysis found that firms with quick detection systems recover from scandals 30% faster. In practice, set your feed to update daily, and train your team on scoring — say, high for anything tied to revenue, medium for operations. Over time, this refines your responses. Add anecdotes from your experience: Once, a client’s undetected ethics slip cost them a major deal. After implementing checks, they not only saved the next one but grew the partnership by 40%. You can achieve similar turns by starting with basics and scaling up.
Integrity as Measurable Value: Reputation Asset
Handle your reputation like any other key part of your business — track it with numbers. Pick three starters: survey your top 20 investors and customers for a confidence level, calculate odds of partners sticking around for renewals, and score regulator contacts by count and seriousness. Update monthly, and connect to factors like full disclosures and fast fixes.
Spred can help pick these numbers and set up a dashboard linking reputation shifts to your income and expenses. For each, show the start value, now value, change, reason, fix plan, and targets for 30, 90, and 180 days. Bring it to board meetings with a tied budget for each.
A pharmaceutical firm used this after a CEO comment stirred controversy. Their dashboard flagged a 14% confidence fall, linked to slow updates. They allocated funds for better comms, lifting scores in three months and adding 8% to market cap.
Treat reputation asset as something you invest in. Ask how a slight drop in renewals affects your bottom line. Research from Bain & Company ties strong reputations to 15–20% higher profits. This method lets you spot trends early.
Response Architecture: Immediate Tactical Next Steps
Hit with a big issue? Stick to three phases: steady things, record details, and prove changes. Steady by sharing a brief fact-based note inside, secure related areas, and kick off review. Record with a complete file of choices and exchanges. Prove by doing fixes openly and measuring results.
Here’s a quick template for that note: “We know about the issue and started a board-backed review. Expect fact updates in 72 hours.”
Practice this every quarter with your legal, comms, and investor teams, plus an outsider. Time steps to get faster. An auto maker I know faced a leadership gaffe. They steadied in hours, recorded everything, and showed policy shifts, recovering 85% trust in 60 days via surveys.
This keeps your reactions sharp. Ask if your team can gear up in a day. Rehearsals build that skill.
Turn slips into steps you manage with detection, metrics, and ordered responses. Demand proof like records and reports for predictable results. For checks and planning, contact Spred Global Communication. They lock in visibility at Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and WSJ, converting credibility to growth. Grab the checklist or ask for a brief.
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Get Featured: Executive Relocation Stories That Catch Media.
You have made the call to relocate your executives, and now you want to use this change to push your brand forward. I have spent years advising business owners on these kinds of transitions, and I always tell them the same thing — a focused PR strategy takes what feels like extra work and turns it into a clear win for your company. You end up with greater exposure, a stronger pull for new hires, and deeper ties with the people who matter to your growth. Let me walk you through some hands-on steps you can start using today. I pull from actual cases I have handled, complete with the numbers and lessons that made a difference.
Shape Your Story from the Start
You kick things off by putting together a straightforward explanation of your Executive Relocation. Pin down the core drivers behind it. Do you want to open doors to customers in a fresh market, or does the new spot give you better access to experts in your field? Make this the heart of what you share, so your audience grasps why it matters without any guesswork.
I once worked with a retail operation that shifted their operations chief from Boston to Atlanta. The goal was to strengthen their hold in the South. They centered their message on faster delivery routes and new local jobs. To back it up, they included figures from their studies projecting an 18% cut in transport expenses. This approach grounded the news in facts tied to their operations, and it paid off quickly — they fielded supplier outreach calls just weeks later.
Turn the focus to your setup. What concrete improvements does this relocation deliver to your routine work? Say you manage a consulting group — spell out how settling in a place like Silicon Valley shortens your turnaround on client work, maybe by as much as 50%. Bring in perspectives from your people to add a personal touch. In one case I guided, the owner tacked on a line from a team lead about looking forward to fresh partnerships, and that small addition made the whole thing feel more relatable.
Take a moment to polish this story. Jot it down, then say it out loud to ensure it comes across smooth. Your aim is for folks to view the relocation as a calculated move that fits your direction, not some random shift. Once you nail this base, it supports all your other PR moves.
See the Real Benefits of PR Here
You put resources into this relocation, so leverage PR to get tangible returns. It positions you better in online searches, fosters confidence among your partners, and helps you bring in capable team members. By sharing your details openly, you create a lasting record that shapes opinions about your business.
Pause and consider: How do people outside your circle find out about your company’s updates? They turn to web searches or word of mouth. Solid PR lets you steer that narrative. Take the manufacturing firm I supported during their shift to Detroit — they framed announcements around links to car makers. Trade mags picked it up, and their system logs showed partner requests climbing 35%.
You manage plenty of this through channels you own, like your site posts or online accounts. Craft pieces that hand over information directly, no digging required. Media folks and potential allies check your pages first. Supply them with solid background, and you open doors to wider reach. Search systems reward content laid out this way, so the benefits build over months.
Set up basic tracking from the outset to gauge effects. Look at form submissions pre- and post-campaign. A services outfit I know logged a 22% bump in email list joins after their relocation push. Data points like that connect your efforts straight to progress.
Flesh this out by thinking about long-range perks. PR from a relocation can feed into your yearly goals, like hitting revenue marks through new leads. In my experience, companies that track beyond immediate hits — say, following up on contacts six months later — often see sustained lifts in deals closed.
Steer Clear of Typical Errors
You could assume one site update covers your announcement needs. That setup usually misses the mark, since it skips features that aid distribution. Tune your materials so they surface in searches and let others reference them without hassle.
Pick titles that align with common lookups, such as “Executive Relocation to Chicago: Key Changes for Our Clients.” Split the piece into segments on must-knows, including schedules and service adjustments.
Outreach falls short if your online presence lacks substance. Make sure your sections deliver detail. I aided a finance team whose early content felt sparse, leading to zero replies on sends. They beefed it up with move timelines and pointers to fresh location info, which soon netted spots in industry updates.
Jump on this by reviewing what you have ready. Does it prove your points with hard facts? Tie in to other areas, like job openings. This bolsters your stance and eases circulation.
Factor in release timing. Line it up with gatherings in your space. One owner I counseled timed theirs for a conference, sparking talks right there and stretching the coverage.
Broaden your view to include review cycles. Post-launch, reach out to a handful of reliable folks for input. This once helped a group catch fuzzy spots and clarify before full rollout.
Use This Framework for Your Plan
You call the shots, so arm yourself with a clear sequence. Launch with your main blog entry. Select a title that draws eyes and suits queries. Set it up with subheads on frequent wonders: What sparked the choice? How does it touch daily tasks? What wins await those involved?
Load those areas with fact bullets, a standout leader remark, and guides to backup. Prioritize future focuses, such as quarterly targets, above short-term notes.
Prep for press dealings. Compile an easy kit for download — a single page of fundamentals. Toss in a data overview, maybe three stats on staff expansion or territory gains. Provide sharp shots, like leaders at the new base, with photo credits.
Form multiple message styles. The site post lays out everything. A bulletin trims to highlights in lists. Network blurbs condense for fast scans.
When the shift zeros in on a locale, tweak for that spot. Showcase area allies or planned meetups. I steered a food enterprise to Denver, where they built sections on local sources. City press ran with it, driving people to their gatherings.
Chase results afterward. Tag outbound links with identifiers. Scan entry points, hire counts, and inquiries. Refine future actions — if mail approaches shine, lean into them.
Boost this with mixed formats. Shoot a quick clip of your head discussing the shift. Embed it. An entrepreneur I recall did so, and shares kept it circulating.
Divide by viewer types too. Adjust segments for varied crowds, like expense reductions for funders or steadiness for workers. This sharpens your reach.
To layer in more, practice your delivery. Rehearse pitches with a colleague to smooth edges. One team I trained cut their send time in half this way, freeing focus for follow-ups.
Watch It Play Out in a True Story
I want to share details on a founder who put these to use. In their Executive Relocation, they led with a web entry that sectioned out queries plainly. They bundled a kit offering image picks.
They messaged a chosen source with an original slant and site tie-in. The spot incorporated it, pulling lines and sending visitors. This eased later exchanges, with the debut acting as validation.
They monitored advances: Visits climbed, prospects appeared, social tallies expanded. It showed the power of connected elements.
Gear up by examining outlets. Grasp their focus and writers. Customize with individual notes.
Stack on extras like thank-yous post-interaction. Provide added info. This forged ongoing bonds in a venture I managed.
Extend the tale by noting adaptations. The founder tweaked based on early feedback, swapping images that did not land for ones that did, which lifted engagement rates.
Draw on Expert Advice
Folks in public relations stress your materials as the go-to spot. Arrange them for quick grabs — figures, words, visuals.
Outfits like 9Figure Media manage this effectively. They lead firms to slots on Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and WSJ. You secure confirmed exposure that raises your profile and sparks sales via built trust. For your Executive Relocation, joining 9Figure Media clears the path.
Specialists prize varied visuals too. Supply options for formats. An effort I directed used this to suit online and paper alike.
Aim for Top Coverage Spots
Pursue solid features. To get featured on techcrunch, angle sends toward tech advances. Offer stats on how the relocation backs builds.
On New York Weekly, relay staff accounts. Cover adaptations or place influences. A crew I backed stressed growth tales, snagging a piece that pulled in audience.
With Variety Magazine, link to creative aspects where relevant. Bind the shift to wider patterns. A culture-linked outfit positioned theirs on emerging works, gaining notice.
Anchor all sends with your prep. This quickens their tasks.
Strengthen by poring over old issues. Spot what hooks them and echo it.
Add prep for rejections. Have backups ready — other outlets with similar reach. One client pivoted fast, landing alternatives that still delivered leads.
Keep the Drive Going
Post-initial surge, keep refreshing. Insert updates on additions or hits. This holds attention.
Team with nearby entities. Co-events breed new hooks. Log broader outcomes, such as revenue from spots.
If barriers crop up, seek specialists like 9Figure Media. They lock in placements that fortify your rep and aid transactions.
You steer your Executive Relocation’s outcome. Assemble the central hub, gear up items, and extend reaches. What targets do you set? Launch with these, and track the shifts.
For specific counsel, explore 9Figure Media. They furnish assured highlights on prominent platforms, converting views to concrete upsides.
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What the teams said – Qualifying in Australia
*** This is the official debrief from the drivers and team principle, always condensed yet informative so l highly recommend checking it out! ***
RACING BULLS
Racing Bulls grabbed the early ‘best of the rest’ tag after getting both cars into Q3 – the only midfield team to do so. All the way through, Lindblad had had the beating of his team mate, but when it mattered, Lawson nailed his one and only lap in Q3 to finish ahead. Both had to run scrubbed tyres in the top 10 shootout which did not help their cause, so they only went for one flying lap. A small error cost Lindblad, but P9 on debut is no mean feat.
Arvid Lindblad, 9th, 1:21.247
“I think all weekend we’ve been quite competitive. I was trying to not get too excited after yesterday, because we didn’t know if things were going to change or if other teams had more in the pocket or whatnot. But I kind of knew coming into the session that we were fast, and I just needed to focus on myself and do my job and we could be competitive. The team have done a phenomenal job. It’s really impressive to have two cars in Q3, especially from where we were in Bahrain – I think it was much more than [mine] and the team’s expectations, so I’m extremely happy and just can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Liam Lawson, 8th, 1:19.994
“I think honestly, where we thought we’d be this weekend was probably not here so, yeah, pretty happy with that. I think the start of Quali for me was quite rough honestly, so finally sort of pieced it together towards the end, but it was quite tricky from where I sat. It was actually hard to put a lap together – I kept locking up, making mistakes, and we had quite a quick car so it was a little bit unnecessary, to be honest, from my side, but towards the end it got more together. We saved a new set for tomorrow as well, which is positive – we didn’t run a new set in Q3 as everybody else around us was already out.”
Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer
“An excellent day for VCARB and Red Bull Ford Powertrains today in Qualifying. There were so many unknowns ahead of the start of the season with such a massive change in both car and PU regulations, and so much speculation about the relative pace of each team. It’s been a long hard period of research and preparation, and a tough three weeks of pre-season testing. Two cars into Q3 and Qualifying positions of P8 and P9 prove that we have two quick drivers and an impressive car in the shape of the VCARB 03.
"We came to Melbourne with a good understanding of the sweet spot for our car’s set-up, and with some additional aerodynamic upgrades, the car’s pace and balance took another step forwards. From the start, the car was in the correct window, thanks to some excellent preparation work from our engineering team, and from this baseline we just needed some fine tuning through the practice sessions ahead of Qualifying.
"Proceeding from Q1 was relatively straightforward, and we still took the opportunity to run two sets of new tyres to make sure we were as best prepared as possible for Q2, which was set to be our main battleground. Both drivers delivered amazing laps in Q2 to get us through to the top ten shoot-out.
"In Q3 we ran used Soft tyres, which was just a strategic decision to improve our opportunities for Sunday’s race. Liam delivered another great lap, however Arvid suffered a minor control issue which cost significant performance. The job is a long way from being complete, but we look forward to Sunday’s race to deliver a good points finish.”
(via formula1.com)