Driver quotes from Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying

We had Graham Caygill, Gary Meenaghan and Ali Khaled on site at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying yesterday. With all the reporting they were up to at the track, they came up with a few spare quotes we can share. Follow our liveblog today as well for more from our trio at the track.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes-GP:

“I’m pleased with the result, for sure; third place, best of the rest, which is our target for the weekend. It was nice to annoy Red Bull a little bit from time to time there in qualifying but in the end they were just too quick again.”

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari:

“In Malaysia [in 2012] we were completely surprised, started 11th but won. Tomorrow if we win we’ll be even more surprised. We need to start very competitively. I’m still confident we will get points.”

Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso:

On the warm conditions in Abu Dhabi. “The heat? It’s only a problem once you get out of the car because inside the cockpit you get some airflow and it’s fine.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP:

On the spin on his last lap of qualifying: “It looks like something gave way at the back of the car as I got on the power at the chicane and it just snapped out, which forced me into a spin. It was a great lap and might just have been enough to get us on to the front row as I was fourth-tenths up on my first effort.”

Valtteri Bottas, Williams:

"I was expecting that we would be fighting for a place in Q3 so I'm a little disappointed. As the track conditions were improving other car times were dropping but we were not able to benefit from that extra grip as much."