Brake issues blighted Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Qualifying session for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix with both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda struggling.
Gasly was an early elimination, missing the cut at the end of the first phase of the three-part session and not shy when it came to venting his frustrations over team radio.
“I’m disappointed with today,” the Frenchman said following the session.
“We replaced the front left brake disc ahead of Quali and then on the out lap we were behind a lot of cars, which meant we couldn’t get enough temperature into the brakes.
“Every time I touched them, I had front locking, which was really tricky, and meant our last attempt went to waste.
“Tomorrow will not be easy from where we start, but it might be raining. I hope it will be because it would bring more excitement and more opportunities to make our way forward.
“Our car works well in the wet, so I think that these conditions would be best for us.”
Tsunoda’s session was also compromised by braking issues, though the local favourite was able to progress into Qualifying 2.
There, he recorded a lap that will see him line up 13th on the grid for today’s race.
“We made a good step up from FP3 but were unfortunately held back by the brakes, I struggled a lot with them and had a big lock-up in Q1, then lost a lot of confidence in Q2,” Tsunoda said.
“I think the balance of the car was looking good and we could have looked to get into Q3, so it’s a bit of a shame we weren’t able to.
“Now we must look to the race tomorrow, there’s a possibility of mixed conditions and we’re in a good position to hopefully make our way forward if the opportunity arises.”
The forecast has worsened for today’s race, with the chance of rain now stated at 80 percent throughout according to the FIA’s official forecasts.
The Japanese Grand Prix will begin at 14:00 local time (16:00 AEDT/01:00 ET/06:00 BST).
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