Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes is “in the mud now” but is confident the team can dig its way out and recover ground, after an ERS problem stopped him from qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The British driver will start the third round of the 2016 F1 season from 22nd and last on the grid. The reliability woe meant he failed to put in a time and was eliminated in Q1.
"Of course, it's disappointing not to get out there today," he said. "It was going to be a tough weekend anyway with the grid penalty. We might be in the mud right now – but we'll dig our way out.
"We've got a great car and the team are doing a great job. The best thing we can do is learn from it and move on. The positive news is that you can overtake here and the car is quick, so hopefully we can get it fixed for tomorrow and have a good race.
"I'll give it everything I've got to try to get back up as far as I can. We'll at least get into the points and then I'll see what I can do from there. It's never over until it's over."
Team-mate Nico Rosberg will start from pole position: "It's great to have my first pole of the year. It's always best to be able to start your race from the front and I'm very happy to have that opportunity again.
"I made a few mistakes on my first effort in Q3 but my final lap was pretty good. Saying that, Kimi said he made a mistake on his last lap, so with that in consideration I don't believe the gap is as big as it seemed on the timesheet today.
"On Friday the Ferraris were on the same level as us, so we must be prepared for a strong challenge from the red cars. In the race we could see some surprises. There will be a lot of different strategies, so there's a long way to go yet. But I'm feeling good in the car and looking forward to a battle."
