The lion got woken up in Interlagos and we saw that today in Qatar! For Valtteri, it was a difficult day, the puncture came out of nowhere, with literally no indication, and unfortunately, he was the first one to pick up the puncture. He controlled the pace from the front and did everything he needed to do, completely in the zone. It failed just after the pit entry as well, so the most unlucky part of the track, and the car got so damaged on the lap back to the pits we felt it was safer to retire and save the mileage. We knew we were pushing the limit of the tyre, but I was still getting good grip, we still felt comfortable and staying out was our best shot at a podium. But then, all of a sudden, I had the puncture without any vibration or warning. Then I got into a bit of a DRS train but once the gaps opened up, I could make progress, the pace was good, and I could go long on the stint. I struggled on the formation lap to get temperature into the tyres and then being on the dirty side of the grid, I had no grip for the start, so I was just wheel spinning, and was skating around on the first lap. Obviously, that was a very disappointing day for me and a tough way to end the weekend, after it started so promisingly on Friday. We'll be bringing our triple a-game for those. It was a real shame for Valtteri today, having to retire, but the pace was good this weekend and that puts us in good stead for the next two races. We've still got our work cut out, but we're loving such a close battle and the challenge that it brings. I'm really grateful for these points and it's amazing to be able to close the gap so much in the last two weeks. A big thank you to everyone trackside and back at the factories for all their hard work.
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It was a pretty straight forward race for me, a little bit lonely but of course, we needed those points, so a really solid job by the team. It's been a hell of a year so to be at this point of the season and have back-to-back wins is a great feeling.