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Szafnauer admits ‘it’s all in the tyres’

Szafnauer admits ‘it’s all in the tyres’

30-05-2019 18:17
2

Bevan Youl

Racing Point team boss Otmar Szafnauer has admitted that ‘it’s all in the tyres’ after a lacking performance weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Both Racing Point drivers Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll went out in Q1 on the Saturday and only managed to finish in 13thand 16th respectively in the race.
 
Perez only managed to move up one place thanks to a penalty for Kevin Magnussen and Szafnauer fells that improvements will be made going into the Canadian Grand Prix after coming to terms with the problems in Monaco.
 
Szafnauer said to Motorsport.com: "We know what went wrong in qualifying, and hope we'll have a good fix for it in Canada. It's all in the tyres.
 
"We just have to learn. Even Mercedes, as you saw, they almost lost it due to the tyres. We'll get there, I have no doubt. We'll recover, that's what we're good at."

Despite having had high expectations going into Monaco he admitted that due to the near impossible task of overtaking around the streets, the goal of scoring points wasn’t in sight after being stuck behind Magnussen.

"Our expectations were definitely higher, and once we got it wrong in qualifying, it was very hard to recover," he added.

"I think our race pace was decent, but it's hard to overtake, and then when you try somebody like Magnussen cuts the chicane and hurts you too, and you can't do it again.

"Sergio got held up by the traffic jam at Rascasse, and we lost a good six or seven seconds there. At the end he was a couple of seconds of scoring a point.

"In between him and a point was Magnussen and Norris. Had he been able to get Magnussen early, there would have been a chance. And he had him."

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