Pascal Wehrlein has explained how progressing into Q3 might even have been possible had it not rained towards the end of Q2, with the German ace managing to progress out of Q1 for the first time in his Formula 1 career.
During the third and final practice session Wehrlein managed to end proceedings a very competitive 13th, sparking hope that the rookie may well be able to finally progress out of Q1 for the first time.
Wehrlein did just that in the all-important qualifying session, setting the time that would eventually see him progress into Q2 only moments before Daniil Kvyat suffered an almighty incident after a suspension failure at Turn 8.
Although Wehrlein was ultimately unable to progress any further in the session, qualifying a personal best of 12th, the German has stated that had rain not hit the circuit during Q2 that further progression might have been possible.
“It was a nearly perfect qualifying,” enthused Wehrlein, who has extensive knowledge of the Red Bull Ring from his DTM career.
“The strategy was excellent; we were always one of the first cars out on track and everything just came together.
“Easy to say I guess, but were it not for the rain, Q3 might even have been possible today.
“It’s an incredible feeling for me and the whole team.
“I feel very proud of us today; it’s a measure of how hard we have all been working and a nice reward for that effort.”
Despite such a strong qualifying performance, Wehrlein fully understands that a similar result in the race is exceptionally unlikely, unless a situation arises similar to that witnessed in the GP2 Series support race which followed the F1 qualifying session.
“I have to be honest and say that tomorrow is a different story,” continued Wehrlein.
“We have struggled with tyre degradation in the races and we’re missing a bit of rear downforce at the moment, which is hard on the rear tyres.
“The forecast is for the weather to be a little bit unpredictable, so hopefully that might shake things up and help us.
“My plan is to drive every lap as fast as possible and see where we get to!”
