Whitely: We ran out of fresh tires before the final session.

      Only Gabriel Bortolotto from the Sauber drivers advanced to the qualifying final, and this only happened because Lewis Hamilton's lap was deleted in the first session, so the Brazilian was simply lucky. One could say that this gave him new strength, and as a result, he will start the Belgian Grand Prix from 10th position.

      Team principal Jonathan Whitley: "The day started with a sprint, a short race of 15 laps, which overall was not particularly eventful. Unfortunately, in Nico's case, it did not go as we had hoped: firstly, due to handling issues, and secondly, he was initially overtaken by competitors, then he got stuck in traffic.

      As for Gabriel, he demonstrated mature professionalism once again: starting tenth and finishing one position higher.

      Before qualifying, the team reorganized, and this session went quite dramatically. Bortolotto posted 16th in the first part of qualifying, just 0.024 seconds short of reaching the second session. But then Lewis Hamilton's lap was annulled, and Gabriel still made it into the next part of qualifying.

      There, he drove an excellent lap, recording 9th time, which allowed him to reach the final for the second time this season. But by that point, we had run out of fresh tires, and after two attempts, he will start tomorrow's race from 10th position.

      As for Nico, qualifying began with his car being damaged on the pit lane due to an incident with Stroll, which required replacing the nose cone. After that, he confidently completed the first session, advanced to the second, and will start the race from 14th."

      Nico Hülkenberg (14th): "Today’s qualifying didn't go as I wanted – I lacked speed on the straights, and without slipstream, we lost up to two tenths, which ultimately affected the result. But on the positive side, the car was already working much better than on Friday.

      In the sprint, we took a step forward, which gave us additional confidence before qualifying. But weekends with a sprint are always a kind of test because we have very little time for preparation. We approached the sprint more as a continuation of training: the data we collected allowed us to make noticeable progress, and I was able to find a good rhythm.

      Regarding the setup, we also considered the possibility of rain tomorrow – maybe that’s how everyone else is also preparing. But we’ll see how events unfold during the race."

      Gabriel Bortolotto (10th): "I am pleased to have made it to the qualifying final again! I suppose it’s necessary to admit that in our sport, sometimes luck really has to be on your side, and today it was.

      When Hamilton’s lap was annulled, it allowed me to advance to the second session. In the first part of qualifying, I didn’t perform my best and was very upset, but I understood that I needed to give my all in the second session – I’m glad I managed to do that.

      Overall, every weekend I feel more comfortable behind the wheel, and I would like to thank the team for that. As for tomorrow’s race, we are ready to give our best regardless of the weather."