It’s been a while since I’ve had a second row start, so I guess I can kind of thank Seb or the stewards for that extra grid position. Being on the second row puts me in the mix at the start, Turn 1 is wide and I’m sure there will be a bit going on. I’m just happy to have my nose there and then we just need to make it happen. Ferrari and Mercedes were really strong today and their qualifying pace has been pretty superior all season, but in the race we seem to be able to bring that back. If I can get track position at the start then I can maybe disrupt their tempo and have a good crack at a podium. We look pretty racy in the third sector, in the first and second we’re going to bleed a little but I’m gonna try and make something happen. It’s also probably going to be a little hotter tomorrow, which might help work the tyres a bit harder but I think if it’s cool then there isn’t too much difference between the ultrasoft and supersoft. Every year I’ve come here with Red Bull we’ve been in a shot of getting a podium, so hopefully we’ve got a good shot tomorrow and I can promise you now, if I’ve got an opportunity of a podium tomorrow, I’m not going to let it slip.

Unfortunately in Q1 I touched one of the larger kerbs pretty hard which resulted in a suspension failure. It is pretty frustrating as plenty of other cars, including myself had been doing this all weekend. It was bad luck for the failure to happen when it did. It shouldn’t be an issue tomorrow in the race as you usually don’t push the track limits as much as in qualifying. The plan is to clear as many cars as quickly as possible and be able to fight at the front. The longer it takes to get through the pack the further ahead the front runners get, so a quick start is important. I really like driving here, and last year I had fun fighting my way up from 16th so I can be excited for tomorrow’s race.

It’s great to see Daniel qualify on the second row of the grid, even if he had a little help from the stewards and I know he will put everything he’s got into bringing his car home in a podium position tomorrow. We are obviously incredibly disappointed not to have Max up at the sharp end with him, but those kerbs are pretty brutal out there and it looks like they took their toll on his rear suspension in Q1. As we saw here last year, Max enjoys coming through the field and giving the fans something to shout about so let’s hope for more of the same come the race.