Malaysian Grand Prix – Bittersweet Sepang

Sepang, Malaysia – On a day where Kimi showed the potential of Scuderia Ferrari by taking second place on the grid after a tough battle, Seb was unable to set a time due to a problem that prevented the compressor from feeding the engine correctly. A new V6 had been fitted to his SF70H after the P3 for precautionary reasons, including parts already used and verified in the company. However, the team is determined to fight to the end.

Seb commented: “I immediately knew something was wrong. Today we had decided to change the engine after P3, I went out in qualifying and everything seemed to work. Then on the launch lap into Turn 5 I suddenly felt I was losing power. I was lucky to make it back to the garage so I could take a look. Unfortunately, we were unable to resolve the issue. We tried to find the problem when we removed the engine hood, but found nothing. So we decided to leave again and see if we could continue shooting. When we started the engine we realized that the problem persisted. It's a shame because the car is fast, but tomorrow we should be able to catch up. I have no expectations in terms of numbers, but anything can happen and that's why we race. I want to make sure we can do our best. We need to understand why this problem occurred and make sure it doesn't happen again. These things can happen in our sport, but the race is tomorrow. And we have to stay positive."

Kimi commented on his qualifying as follows: “Our car performed well throughout the weekend. Today in qualifying we were close, but we would have needed a faster lap. The car had the potential to do this, but it can always happen that you lose time here and there. It's sad not to be first, but tomorrow will be a long race for the cars and the tyres. I feel we have a good car and a good chance for the race. If we race in the dry, we could probably be more comfortable, but so far we have done well in every condition and with every fuel load. What happened to Sebastian is a shame, for him and for the team. The guys did a great job managing to change all the parts reassembling the car and getting it ready to go, but unfortunately it had to stop. Tomorrow is another day, he will have the speed to recover and I am sure he will be able to recover."