Yellow flash in Imola
Shooting alongside the Ferrari #50 which got a amazing pole position with Antonio Fuoco at the six hours of Imola it will be, somewhat surprisingly, the yellow 499P of the AF Corse team, which with Robert Shwartzman she managed to win the first row ahead of the second official Ferrari. The young Cavallino driver, who is also a reserve driver for the Red team in Formula 1, impressed fans and media with the confidence with which he managed to secure the front row of the highly anticipated home race of the Maranello team. In the interviews following the qualifying sessions, Robert appeared to the media to be more disappointed by the missed pole than happy by the still excellent result. A sign of a winning and attacking mentality that shines through in his immediate declarations
“Today in qualifying it was a bit chaotic with all those red and yellow flags. It's the first time for me that I've qualified with this car and I didn't know exactly the level of grip I could find. It took me a little too long to find the confidence and only my last lap was satisfactory for me, but it wasn't enough to get pole. However, I think we had the potential to do a little better. I hope that tomorrow will be a good day for us and that we will have the chance to overcome ourselves by playing our chances. We will have to try to make the best strategy because I think we are very strong in terms of race pace. However, for being the first time I compete in the Hyperpole, the front row is not bad.”
Shwartzman has no doubts about the reason for the four-tenths gap between him and poleman Fuoco: “Antonio managed to do a very clean lap while I couldn't. This is the difference and this is why they are in second position. Obviously I lack some experience on the behavior of this car with low fuel load and fresh tires. Fuoco, on the other hand, has a full season of experience in qualifying and this represents a big advantage. Obviously it was easier for him than for me but I think I can improve and close this gap.”
Robert knows that tomorrow with his teammates Kubica and Ye will have a real chance of reaching the podium, sealing a memorable weekend for the Ferrari of the AF Corse team. However, Shwartzman makes no secret of his ambition to aim for maximum results, hoping for a free race with the red 499P sisters: “I can't tell you yet about the starting strategy tomorrow. I just want there to be fairness between us Ferrari drivers, that we will be free to overcome ourselves and that whoever is fastest will have the chance to pass.”
For Kubica it is a great result
His teammate Kubica instead, he assessed the still excellent qualifying performance of the 499P #83 with a touch of greater realism: “I understand that Shwartzman is disappointed not to have taken pole, any driver would be. But we need to look at the situation for what it is. It's nice to hear your teammate disappointed at missing pole, but the truth is that there is no reason to be disappointed“.
“In the end the truth is that we are a young line up with little experience and we are competing with drivers who have more experience on the Ferrari 499P and which allows them to anticipate problems”, the Pole continues. “I think that if we did the qualification again straight away with the experience we now have everything would be much easier and we would do better. This was our second hyperpole and we opt to rotate drivers in our team on Saturday afternoons. It's normal that if you have a fixed driver, qualifying is easier for him. However, I think that if we consider things overall as a group it is difficult to think of being able to easily beat the more experienced riders. In this sport, experience is fundamental.”
#WEC #Shwartzman #Corse #Ferrari #Disappointed #pole
