Durham began 1992 in a state of buoyancy. For a full century, Durham had been a minor county. Now, finally, they were a first-class team. And there was always the sense that Durham were not merely the 18th first-class team, but something more: flag-bearers for the entire north-east, giving a region deprived of professional cricket an identity at last.Twenty-five years on, the club approaches 2017 in trepidation and despair. They will begin the season demoted to Division Two of the County Championship as punishment for having to receive an ECB bail-out of ￡3.8 million, and, as if that was not bad enough, they will start on minus 48 points, as well as with points deductions in the other two formats. Chester-le-Street has also lost its status as a Test match venue.How did it ever come to this?****With hindsight, it was in these heady early days that the roots of Durhams demise can be found. At the start of the countys first-class existence, two decisions were made which, together, would underpin its descent to the brink of insolvency.The first mistake was the ECBs insistence that Durham develop a Test match ground. At huge expense, Chester-le-Street, which opened in 1995, became not just a beautiful ground, but one able to host Tests. The trouble was that in 13 years of hosting Test cricket, Durham was never able to make the games pay, with the glorious exception of the Ashes Test in 2013. The rest of the time Durham were lumbered with hosting unappetising tourists at an unappealing time of year, the attraction of games further undermined by often being scheduled from Friday to Tuesday, and so effectively denying Durham any chance to sell day four tickets in advance.The consequences were dire. For all their investment, Durham only earned an average of ￡300,000 from England matches from 2008 to 2015. The average at other Test grounds was ￡1 million. The fundamental problem is that almost since day one the club has not generated sufficient revenue to cover its fixed overheads, says David Harker, Durhams chief executive. The requirement to have a venue capable of staging international cricket without then earning the required receipts from international cricket is the single biggest cause of the problem. Another county chief executive reflects: They bet the farm and lost.The second mistake was Chester-le-Street itself. The town is simply too small to have a first-class ground, let alone a Test one. Only 25,000 people reside in Chester-le-Street, which is easily the smallest of all the centres of population that are the main hosts of the 18 first-class counties. In an age when counties have to increase their non-cricket income, Chester-le-Street lacks the population to do that. The train from Newcastle to Durham is only 11 minutes. For Durham, those 11 minutes might have been the difference between being stable and almost going out of business. Our out of town situation is certainly a factor, especially for T20, Harker says. When Durham was created, no one appears to have seriously suggested that building the ground in Newcastle would have been preferable. Yet such a ground would be ideally suited not just to packing in T20 crowds on Friday evenings in high-summer, but also - even more importantly - staging corporate events all-year long.The ECBs demands when elevating Durham and the small population around Chester-le-Street were bad enough. But those two factors alone might not have proved disastrous had it not been for a third obstacle, perhaps the most potent of all. The north-easts dire economic reality has made it harder for Durham to sell tickets to fans for Twenty20 or Test matches, and meant that fans who do come are less willing to indulge in the half-dozen pints that many who go to T20s down south regard as par for the course. Lavish spending from corporates is also harder to find. In 2015, Durham brought in just under ￡600,000 in gate receipts and membership income from domestic cricket. Other Test grounds earned another ￡500,000 on top of that; even the first-class counties that dont host internationals earned ￡200,000 more than Durham.Better and more innovative marketing could have helped, but only up to a point. Ultimately, Durhams plight should be seen as part of the wider decline in north-east sport, which is itself inextricably linked to crude economics. In the Premier League in 2014/15, Sunderland had the sixth-highest attendance in the Premier League but only had the 15th-highest revenue. Last year, Sunderland finished 17th in the Premier League, yet were still the leading north-east club. Only in two previous seasons in the 128-year history of English league football has the top north-east club finished lower. Never has it been harder for sporting clubs to fight against regional socio-economic deprivation than it is today.None of this is to deny that Durham have been partly complicit in their downfall. Bidding for Tests they couldnt afford was foolhardy, even if this error highlights the ECBs original mistake in pushing them to develop a Test ground. Durham were also guilty of negligent planning over player contracts during the run of three Championships titles in six years from 2008. The club was ill-prepared for how to react when England players, including Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett, lost their central contracts. And, with hindsight, the club made poor decisions to award sizeable long-term contracts to Harmison and Ian Blackwell when they were past their peaks. For these reasons, Durham mislaid their prudence. And so, in 2012, Durham spent over ￡2 million on salaries. It remains the only time that any county has breached the salary cap.Among the counties there is no little sympathy for what has happened to Durham, and a belief that the punishments meted out to them fall well beyond reasonable. Even before the ECB bail-out, Durhams ￡8 million debt was about half the average at other Test match grounds outside London. The difference is that, partly because of their revenue potential from internationals and the underlying land value of the grounds which are located in the city centre, other counties venues have been able to raise larger amounts from public bodies, in the case of Glamorgan and Warwickshire, or private benefactors, in the case of Hampshire and Yorkshire. While those counties found men - Rod Bransgrove for Hampshire, and Colin Graves for Yorkshire - to bail them out, Durham did not. The only consortium that showed an interest in buying Durham was backed by a man who the ECB privately admitted would not pass their fit and proper person test.Durham have received further sympathy due to their not-inconsiderable efforts to turn things around. By 2015 the club had shaved ￡800,000 off their 2012 wage bill. Their total player remuneration was just over ￡1.3 million - ￡200,000 less than the average for all first-class counties, and ￡350,000 less than the average in Division One of the County Championship. Given these constraints, coming fourth in Division One this year was a remarkable achievement; Durham estimate that they would have needed to reduce player salaries by a further ￡500,000 a year over the past four seasons, rendering fielding a competitive team impossible. Back-office staff costs fell almost ￡200,000 from 2013 to 2015 when Durhams total spending, just in excess of ￡400,000, was half that of the other Test match grounds. It is not as if Durham were blasé about the need to rein in spending before the ECBs bailout and sanctions.The ECB have helped counties before, of course. But, as they stressed in the press release revealing Durhams fate, the financial support given to Durham was unprecedented. The determination not to be seen as the lender of last resort underpinned the severity of the ECBs sanctions. To chief executives of a slightly conspiratorial bent - though they preferred not to go on the record - such sanctions also highlighted the counties financial dependence upon the ECB, and served to weaken their opposition to a new eight-team domestic T20 competition, from which the 18 first-class counties would stand to gain about ￡1.5 million each. The relegation was certainly avoidable, says one chief executive. This sanction was particularly bizarre. It was also pre-planned, as rumours have been circling since August. Punishing the players and supporters of Durham for the commercial failure of international cricket seems very wrong.****At this juncture, it seems unlikely that Durhams fate will be the start of a new trend. Most counties are in a far better financial position than five years ago. Even unfashionable counties have innovated - Northants regularly stage concerts, including Elton John; Derbyshires press box also acts as a university lecture theatre - to ensure their financial viability. The notion that the smallest counties are lumbered with the most debt is also fundamentally untrue. It is actually the Test-staging counties - Durham, Hampshire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire - that are in worse financial positions. Too late for Durham, the ECB has also sanitised the bidding process for international cricket, stopping counties outbidding each other, and sometimes paying far more than they could afford, to stage the most appealing fixtures. The ECB also believes that a new domestic T20 competition would raise extra cash and help shore up the financial positions of the counties. Still, the underlying irony of Durhams plight remains. Hampshire, who benefit the most from Durhams fate by retaining their Division One status despite finishing in the bottom two, are the most indebted county in the country. Without Rod Bransgroves financial backing they would face a situation every bit as perilous as Durhams.As for Durham, the club are confident that the threat to their future has now passed. But years of grim austerity loom and, perversely, in some ways the ECB have made it even harder for Durham to generate funds. Their punishment in T20 cricket, which appears insignificant set against that in the County Championship, threatens to be financially debilitating. Durham need two wins just to eradicate their points deduction; in practice this could see them knocked out of the competition in its early stages, meaning that fans will be less likely to attend knowing that chances of progress to the quarter-finals are remote.For years Durham were county crickets feel-good story. Just 22 seasons into their first-class existence, they had already won three Championships titles and the homegrown talent that underpinned the team, and is the countys raison dêtre, was at the heart of Englands success, too. Now, despite all these achievements, there appears little to feel good about for cricket in the north-east. Ultimately that is just very sad.This article first appeared in All Out Cricket magazine, which this month features an exclusive interview with Joe Root. 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ESPN rounds up all the reaction from up and down the Interlagos paddock following qualifying for the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.?MercedesLewis Hamilton (1st):?Its been feeling great all weekend. Every session today I was up front and able to maintain that position, finding a little bit more each time I went out. So, Im really, really happy with it. I dont know how obvious it is watching at home but, with this being one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, its somewhere that even the smallest margin can make a huge difference and its usually close out there. Its a really tricky track to get right. For example, all weekend my first sector times were quite good but then I never really got it together through there in qualifying.When you have such a short lap, getting your tyres ready for the first flying lap is often difficult, so you can go into the first three corners without them being fully up to temperature yet. Its quite bumpy in places and the middle sector puts a lot of heat through the tyres, so overall its definitely a tough circuit. Its all about having a good balance of patience and not being too greedy in some places. Ive felt strong in every aspect and in all conditions throughout this weekend, so Ill prepare the best way I can for tomorrow and see how it goes from there. Im ready.Nico Rosberg (2nd):?That was a pretty intense qualifying out there today. I was able to improve my times from lap to lap which felt good and it was all going very well. I found a good balance, a good rhythm -- a good everything, really. Then, on my last run I was able to improve again -- but at the end Lewis was just that little bit quicker. But thats the way it is and there is still a lot to play for tomorrow. To win the race is definitely still possible from this position. The start is always a possibility and also with strategy it could be interesting tomorrow. I also had a good long run this morning, so I am looking forward to a great race in front of this fantastic crowd.Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:?What a fantastic qualifying session with everything coming down to the final lap between the two boys. Lewis did a great lap and was quickest in every part of qualifying - but Nico was actually a few hundredths ahead on his final lap until Turn 12, where he couldnt get on the throttle early enough and lost the advantage up the hill. It was just a really tight session with both drivers on the limit and slugging it out on track, just like it should be.Looking ahead to the race, the weather forecast looks uncertain and it will be down to our drivers to make the most of their opportunities. Our job is to make sure that we dont let them down. The other positive from today was a surprisingly good gap to the teams behind - bigger than we have seen recently. But that can easily change in different circumstances during the race.Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical):?Very interesting conditions out there today - although not as bad as they might have been. We saw some very light drizzle drifting in every five to ten minutes but fortunately never enough to significantly slow the track. So, in the event we ran a straightforward programme - opting to head out early in each session to ensure we got our laps in while the track was still dry. The Q3 finale between our two drivers was incredibly close and very exciting to watch.Nico was actually slightly up coming into the last corner but just lost a fraction in those final moments, with Lewis holding on to a very strong pole position. Congratulations to them both on what was a really spectacular performance to lock out the front row. The stage is set for a closely fought battle tomorrow, in what has been a tightly contested title battle all season so far. We look forward to seeing how the latest chapter in that story unfolds tomorrow.FerrariKimi Raikkonen (3rd): Today everything felt a bit more normal than yesterday and I was happier with the car. Overall it was easier for everybody, the cooler temperatures helped, yesterday the track was very hot. To be honest the feeling in the last lap was not so good, the front was sliding in the first two corners and I struggled a bit in the middle sector to put the lap together.I knew that it was better than the previous one but I thought it wouldnt be enough because it was not an ideal one; It was good enough to be third and Im positively surprised. Mercedes was too far but today it worked out pretty well and we can be happy with this result. There is potential in the car, we are getting where we should be. Tomorrow we can only do our best, with weather conditions you never know and things can quickly change.Sebastian Vettel (5th):?Today my last run in Q3 was not ideal: I think third position was possible, but I was probably a bit conservative around the last corner. All in all, though, I think it was a good session: the car was behaving well, but maybe in the end I could have pulled out a little bit more out of it. Yesterday on a single lap we were not particularly strong, we struggled a bit, but I think that in the long run we were quite good: so for tomorrow, if its dry, we should be in reasonable shape.Mercedes looked very fast also yesterday in the long runs, so obviously well try to stay with them but our main rival I guess will be Red Bull, which had similar pace to us today. In the race I think were usually a little bit faster, so hopefully we can get the job done tomorrow. If it rains it will be the first time for everyone this weekend: but it is what it is, I think we have enough rain tyres.WilliamsValtteri Bottas (11th):?Its obviously disappointing to be out before Q3. Our pace all weekend has been very good, as has the set-up; but for some reason in qualifying we were just not quick enough, while some other cars were surprisingly fast. I doubt we got everything out of these cooler conditions today, but the race is tomorrow. It will be a fight with Force India again, but at least now we might have the upper hand with the strategy.Felipe Massa (13th):?This definitely wasnt the greatest result because I expected to easily be fighting in Q3. The car didnt work in the proper way and the front tyres stopped working. I was suffering from understeer and my best lap of Q2 ended up being my first one, so we need to understand what happened. But it was absolutely amazing to get out of the car and feel the support from the crowd, and to feel the love I have for these people as well as the love they have for me. Im not happy with the result for them, but I will try everything I can tomorrow to give them a better result, as well as for my team, especially as its my last race here in Brazil.Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering:?Todays qualifying was disappointing for us because the car has been quick, especially over one lap, all weekend. When we needed to put the laps together, they just didnt come off. Its unfortunate because we were just a few tenths off Ferrari, right up until the time we needed to get the important laps in and they didnt come. Thats just how it is, and weve got to look ahead positively to the race. Were starting on the clean side with a free choice of tyres, so well have a look at what were going to do with the strategy. The car is quick and its been very good in the long runs, so well see what comes out of it tomorrow. Im sure we can score some good points.Red BullMax Verstappen (4th): I was just a little disappointed with my last lap, I was expecting someone to jump ahead of me so Kimi being in front wasnt a big surprise. It was an odd session, Q1 and Q2 felt good but then I wasnt very happy with the grip of the new set of tyres I got. We need to look into this as the rear felt slick in sector 2, we will analyse and hopefully figure out why. We have ended up very close to third position which realistically is the best we can do in dry conditions so todays result is still pretty good. We have split the Ferraris which means we will have a fun race on our hands tomorrow, especially if the weather changes. It was a bit of a shame the rain stayed away for qualifying.We had a few drops but not enough to make conditions swing in our favour, it is supposed to rain more tomorrow so lets look forward to that. With some wet track condition our level of grip compared to other cars should come up a bit. Long run pace looks good so after a strong start we can put on a good race. I will go out there tomorrow to perform the best I can and deliver the highest finish position possible for the team. I havent paid much attention to the stories of Mercedes talking with Red Bull, Nikki was in our hospitality but he just likes our food and drinks, they are very good. He is Austrian so perhaps just wanted an Austrian drink.Daniel Ricciardo (6th):?I feel so-so about 6th place today. I felt we made progress from Q1-Q2 and then in Q3 I was little bit disappointed with my lap. Probably didnt get the balance right in myself. Its a tough track and its quite a short lap so if you make a mistake in one corner its very hard to make up that time. I had a good first sector but was probably a little bit conservative, a couple of corners where I was trying to not make a mistake more than trying to gain some time.We knew qualy would be tight with Ferrari in dry conditions, and it is close and I think thats what makes it a little frustrating, but Ill learn from that and hopefully tomorrow we can have a good race. Its fun when its that close but not fun when you are the last of the bunch. The forecast has said all week that Sunday had the highest chance of rain, hopefully thats true, just to spice things up a bit, and if so then well try and make it exciting for everyone else and give the fans an opportunity to see a good race. If it rains tomorrow its going to be a lot of fun.Christian Horner, Team Principal: A very tight qualifying to end up fourth and sixth. Looking at the grid positions for tomorrows race theres only a tenth and a half between third and sixth place today. Max unfortunately lost a little bit of time in the middle sector on his last lap when he was set for an improvement but hopefully, with chances of mixed weather conditions tomorrow, from those grid positions we can make good progress in the race.Force IndiaNico Hulkenberg (8th):?Im happy with eighth place and I think it was pretty much the limit today. It was close with Checo just behind me and it means were starting the race in a strong position. My laps were pretty clean and tidy, although I didnt get a great exit out of the final corner at the end of Q3 - its been a difficult corner for us all weekend. I think we have a good car for tomorrow, so we need to get the job done and score solid points. The long runs we did yesterday looked promising, but we have to wait and see what happens with the weather. At the moment it looks like conditions will be similar to today -- overcast with some light drizzle. If we get some heavier rain, it would certainly spice things up because it can be quite difficult to overtake here in the dry.Sergio Perez (9th):?We made a big step forward from practice to qualifying and it was enough to get us through to Q3. The session was a real fight, especially in Q1, and the margins between progression and elimination were tiny. This is a very short track and you need to really hook together the perfect lap, because any mistake can make a big difference. It was very tight with Nico; we were within a few tenths of each other all afternoon, but in the end I fell just short. I made a small mistake in the final corner and it cost me some time, so I could have been a bit quicker. Overall I think we can be happy with the job we did today. We have kept some quick cars behind us and I believe we can be strong in the race. We now need to see what the weather brings tomorrow.Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal:?Getting both cars into the top ten was the target today so were very pleased with the outcome. The team worked hard on Friday night to make the necessary changes to extract performance from the car. The progress we made overnight and this morning made the difference and helped us squeeze through to Q3. It sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. Our race pace looks solid and were pretty relaxed about the changeable weather. Come rain or shine, we have a car capable of converting our qualifying effort into important points.RenaultJolyon Palmer (16th):?Im pleased with reaching Q2 again today even though I wish we could be a bit higher on the grid for the race. I had a couple of lock-ups during my last run and had no rubber left on my front right, which is why I ran wide. It is a shame as FP3 this morning was really good and we could have done better still this afternoon; I wanted a little bit more ! Nonetheless tomorrow is race day, we will have to see what the weather conditions are first and then we will be pushing to the limit as always.Kevin Magnussen (18th):?Todays result isnt what we hoped for. We looked good yesterday and I felt comfortable in the car however I struggled with balance all day today and missed out on accessing Q2 this afternoon as a resullt.dddddddddddd We need to understand why and will work on that overnight. I look forward to having a better performance in the race tomorrow.Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:?We had a good practice session this morning, but for whatever reason we didnt seem able to put a good lap together this afternoon. Jolyon went through to Q2 again, as he has been doing recently, only to struggle on both runs there. He had some traffic issues to start with, followed by problems making the front tyres work properly. Kevin suffered with balance in the car today, which we will have to look into ahead of tomorrows race.We are likely to see more rain tomorrow. Temperatures will be cooler and there is a higher chance of rain than today. Were certainly not expecting a hot race and there is every chance of the strategy being affected by rain. Well have to be alert and ready to evolve our plans as we need to. This is generally a two to three pitstop race here. In these cool conditions however, it may move more towards a two-stop race, while a wet afternoon will make things harder to predict. It all depends on water levels and how the intermediate tyres work.Toro RossoDaniil Kvyat (14th): A decent qualifying. I dont think there was any more we could extract from the car and a P14 is the most we could achieve today. My Q2 lap was quite clean in these tricky conditions -- there was a lot of wind and it was hard to find a good balance of the car -- and Im pleased with my job today. I have to say that the track conditions changed a lot from yesterday to today and we therefore had to adapt ourselves and carry on learning during the session, which wasnt easy. Having said that, its always an enjoyable track to drive and every single corner is different to the next one -- its definitely a circuit with a lot of character! Hopefully tomorrow there will be some rain so that we can have a good race!Carlos Sainz (15th):?Not the best of qualifying sessions for me, but not the worst either. We knew it wasnt going to be an easy one and that we were going to struggle a bit at this track. Q3 was just too difficult to get into today. My start to the session was okay and I put in a good lap time in Q1, but from that point onwards we didnt really improve anymore and we were out in Q2. We will now have to analyse this, see why we couldnt find any lap time there, and get ready for tomorrow. I think it will be an interesting race -- in dry conditions it will be tricky for us to fight for points but if it rains anything can happen and I also enjoy it in the wet. I will definitely do a rain dance before going to bed tonight!Jody Egginton, Head of Vehicle Performance:?As expected, the weather has started to have an effect on the running here in Brazil. In both sessions today we have had to be ready to adapt the run programmes and, of course, we can expect this trend to continue for the race tomorrow. Regarding todays sessions, we managed to complete pretty much all of the FP3 programme for both drivers, setting new baselines in the cooler track and ambient conditions. Changes to tyre preparation and management were required and we tested a few items related to this, which provided some useful data for qualifying. Q1 passed without incident for us but we knew we had to try and find something extra to overcome our known limitations.This is why the second runs in Q1 were used to investigate a different approach, which unfortunately did not yield a benefit. With the midfield quite tight, Q2 was clearly going to offer a challenge and unfortunately we came up short on this occasion and were not able to progress to Q3. However, the set-ups the engineers and drivers have been working on together since FP1 have provided a good general balance in long and short runs so, although we are disappointed with the qualifying result, its just a case of ensuring we optimise the set-ups for the race conditions. As we know from the weather forecasts, tomorrows race could present some opportunities, so we are looking forward to it.SauberMarcus Ericsson (21st):?First of all, I am very thankful that my car crew managed to change the engine between FP3 and qualifying. They did an extremely good job in between the two sessions, having a very limited amount of time. Qualifying itself was rather difficult. Yesterday we had issues during my stints, so I could not do as many laps as we wanted in FP2. Because of the engine problem in FP3, I could not run a proper lap. We were on the back foot going into qualifying. With all that in mind, we could not have expected much more.Felipe Nasr (22nd):?I am very disappointed with this result. I was on a good lap until Turn 11. Then in Turn 12 I came across traffic, which cost me some time on the way up to the finish line. I also had a misfire at the end of this lap. My chances for a good lap time were over then. I am disappointed that I could not get a clean lap. Now I will focus on tomorrow. Anything can happen here because of the weather conditions. I will stay positive for my home race.McLarenFernando Alonso (10th): I really enjoyed driving today and felt really confident with the car. These cooler conditions seem to suit our package a little better than yesterdays higher temperatures, and we extracted the maximum from the car. Still, we were a little bit worried after FP3 as we werent completely on the pace, and I was even more worried when I saw Jenson go out in Q1. I just thought, This isnt going to be our Saturday! but -- happily -- my car behaved fantastically on each of the five Option tyre-sets I used in qualifying.The car just kept on delivering: I kept finding an extra tenth each time I went out, just finding a little extra at the limit. I hope the track time I lost yesterday isnt going to cost me too much in tomorrows race, as everybody conducted their long runs in totally different weather conditions. Tomorrow, were expecting it to be cooler with the possibility of some rain, so its good to be starting in the top 10.Jenson Button (17th):?The car was really well balanced yesterday, and I was 10th quickest in FP2; today, it was a completely different car. Theres definitely something not right -- theres no reason why the car should feel like it does; but its been like that since this morning. Were off the pace and its frustrating. When the conditions are cooler, you tend to pick up a little more rear grip and stability, and in high-speed the car is so on the nose. Then you destroy the rear tyres for the low-speed corners; you dont have the grip because the tyres are damaged. Still, its done now, and tomorrows another day.Eric Boullier, McLaren-Honda Racing Director:?Its been a somewhat tricky weekend so far, but weve pushed hard to fix our issues. Yesterday, we werent able to get either car through to the end of FP2; this morning, we had a gearbox sensor issue on Fernandos car, which delayed him at the start of FP3, then we had to change Jensons ISS and ECU after an issue at the very end of this mornings practice. Our engineers and mechanics have done a very solid job of rectifying all the issues and swiftly addressing them, so lets hope that our problems are now firmly behind us for the remainder of the weekend.?After showing well yesterday, Jenson couldnt get the car hooked up today -- he was always struggling for a balance, and was mystified by the shortfall in pace. Well have a close look at everything tonight to make sure hes got a better chance in tomorrows race. Todays cooler conditions certainly played well for Fernando. He really revelled in the cars handling this afternoon, pushing it as high as seventh in Q2. Tenth spot is a very good effort. With mixed conditions on the radar for tomorrow, we feel were set for a stronger performance tomorrow.Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer:?So far, it has been a tricky weekend to gauge where we are, with the boiling heat of Friday and the damp track in this mornings FP3. In this afternoons qualifying, it was nice to see Fernando back into Q3. He put in a very good lap, so we were hoping for a P7 or P8, but just missed out by a few tenths. Jenson, however, had more of a difficult time adjusting to the condition changes from yesterday to today, and struggled with balance all of today. There is such a surprisingly big gap to Fernando, so we must look into this matter tonight, and nail the strategy for the race tomorrow.ManorPascal Wehrlein (19th): It was a tough day yesterday, so to get in the car today and find it was more or less where we needed it to be was a huge relief, given the job ahead of us for this afternoon. We lost some time and important preparation along the way, but its nice to recover from that quite quickly and be in a good position for qualifying. On the one hand, were in front of both Saubers, so thats important and the box ticked for what we needed to achieve today. But there was more to come and thats a little frustrating.?My best lap was on my first set of tyres and with three runs, that should have been two more opportunities to improve. On the second set I made a small mistake, which cost me a couple of tenths. We were only a couple of tenths away from Q2 today, so its disappointing that we had to abort the final run, but there was so much traffic in the last corners. Conditions were quite tricky today; could be the same tomorrow also. Im looking forward to making the most of that.Esteban Ocon (20th, will start 22nd after penalty):?I cant say Im satisfied with qualifying. We did get ahead of Sauber -- both of them -- but unfortunately that doesnt count now because I have to line up behind them. Thats how it is and we will have to hope for a good start and push hard to get ahead of them. The track here is awesome and I love it, but it is very small and the last corner is pretty slow, so there was a lot of traffic. The first corner will be interesting tomorrow, so its important that we dont get caught up in any situations and focus instead on using them to our advantage. We have a job to do as a team tomorrow and that is what Im focused on.Dave Ryan, Racing Director:?Generally, an improvement today, getting on top of the problems that challenged us on Friday to give Pascal a more straightforward FP3, ensuring that both drivers were well prepared for qualifying. As we predicted, our one-lap pace was pleasing and we were very close to Q2 again. Collectively, we didnt make the best of the opportunity to improve on the final run, and though we have one car starting ahead of Sauber, we should have had two. Tomorrow, will bring its own challenges and, Im sure, some opportunities. The conditions today have been tricky and that looks set to be the case for the race, so we go into Sunday with everyone clearly focused on what we need to do to achieve the best result for the team.HaasRomain Grosjean (7th):?Its good to be back in Q3, especially after the last two races where we were out in Q1 and really struggling. Here weve been trying some new brakes, focusing on making them work as well as we could. The feeling was good right from the beginning and the cooler track conditions today really helped us a lot. There are still plenty of margins to improve for the future. Were always learning more about what we need to do, but we really werent expecting to be in Q3 today. Generally though, when we do get things working well together, were quite fast, which is encouraging.Esteban Gutierrez (12th):?Its been quite a competitive qualifying session with the lap times being very close. We just missed out on Q3, but its great that our performance is back after two weekends where we were struggling. We can now be optimistic for the race tomorrow. Ill be aiming for the points. Were aware of what we need to do and thats what Ill be targeting.Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:?We did a good job in FP3 to end up with a car that worked well for both drivers in qualifying. We seem to have ups and downs, but we always come back out on top. Last race weekend we were out in Q1 and now were in Q3 with one car and the other finishing 12th. Achieving our best result in qualifying with seventh place for Romain -- its thanks to a lot of effort from the whole team. Starting in seventh and 12th, our aim will be for a points finish. Its difficult to attain here, but it wont be from a lack of trying.PirelliPaul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director:?We experienced track and air temperatures today that were a lot lower than they had been on Friday, which consequently had an effect on how the tyres behaved. The rain that fell yesterday and this morning also washed away a lot of the rubber that had been previously laid on the surface, re-starting the cycle of track evolution. With quite a speed margin between the medium and the soft, we saw just the softer tyre used in qualifying. This is what the top 10 will start on, but with variable weather and relatively high degradation on the soft, its going to be difficult to predict the optimal strategy tomorrow. 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