US GP Saturday quotes: BMW

"I had some graining with the tyres and obviously was too aggressive and slid a bit away from racing line, otherwise I think I could have qualified in front of the Ferraris. In Montreal our car was very good over the race distance, so I hope we can continue like this."

Sebastian Vettel - 7th: "It was thrilling as you have three different sessions and three times the opportunity to either do a good lap or a bad lap. Towards the end I could have been a bit better, but making it into qualifying three was already a big step.

"I shall sleep better tonight because last night I had the unknown ahead about what will happen. However, yesterday I think we had a very good day and today also was not too bad. Here I shall be racing against the best drivers in the world, which is a big challenge, and the race is a bit longer than I am used to.

"Now I am much more familiar with the car and really looking forward to the race and another good thing is that P7 is on the clean side."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "Sebastian did a very good job. He did exactly what we asked him to do. He was able to concentrate, stayed calm and focused. Whereas Nick was unlucky. He was on the way to qualify in third in front of both Ferraris, but then on his fast lap at the end he lost around four tenths of a second in the last sector. But with a good start he can gain a position or two."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "The result is okay, although it could have been even better for Nick. He was strong and on his way to P3 when the third sector didn't go well. For Sebastian the whole procedure was completely new.

"To reach the top ten qualifying was the target and we easily made this. Seventh on the grid is a very good result for a debutant who had to jump into the car at short notice. Looking at the long runs we did in free practice, I feel we can expect a good race result."