What the LMP1 Drivers said after the 6 Hours of Silverstone
A summary of what the winning drivers and some of the other podium finishers had to say.
Sebastien Buemi – No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID, 1st
“In a way it scares a little bit as we expected to be quicker than them (Porsche) so it would have been a shame to lose it. In the end the car was quick and in the last stint they had to keep their old tyres, and I was on fresher tyres, so we knew we had a bit of an advantage. And, when it rains, it helps when you have more downforce.
“They were quick on the straight so I had to try something and Brendon was kind enough to leave just enough room for me. I am happy for the win, it has been a very long time and it is great to start the season like this.”
Anthony Davidson – No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID, 1st
“I think that even being from around these parts I wasn’t quite prepared for what the weather had for us today. To drive with slicks in those conditions was pretty tough and some of the toughest driving I have ever had to do!
“I saw the Porsche guys flying past and I didn’t know they were on intermediates at that stage. But we knew that if we could survive the rain and not put it in the gravel or wall it was going to look good for the strategy. Then the Safety Car came out and all our hard work was pretty much for nothing. For the show it was great, but from our side it was a nail-biter right to the end.
“It was a testament to Kazuki to then keep the gap to the Porsche behind, and then Seb put in the best drive I think I have ever seen him drive in sportscars. It was an amazing effort.”
Kazuki Nakajima – No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID, 1st
“It was very difficult after we lost the time with the Safety Car and then we had to make a gap. At the end of my stint we thought the gap was enough and actually it wasn’t. Seb’s drive was really amazing and we believed it was enough.
“I am really happy that, since I joined these guys we have finally won a race together."
Brendon Hartley – No.2 Porsche LMP Team 919 Hybrid, 2nd
“I was optimistic before we came here after testing the low-downforce kit at Monza. I was a bit surprised by the pace of Toyota yesterday in qualifying. We didn’t get it right but we put all the emphasis on race pace as it was the only way we stood a chance .
“Toyota deserved the win and they had just a little bit of an edge. The first stint went well for me and I managed to get around the sister car and we managed to save a couple of laps of fuel which puts us in a strategically good position. At the time the intermediate tyre was really good for Timo but the track dried out quicker than we expected.”
Nick Tandy - No.1 Porsche LMP1 Team 919 Hybrid, 3rd
“You get a bit of practice when you race in changeable conditions like this in the UK. The problem we had was that we had to come in for fuel about two laps before it started to rain, so went back out on slicks and then had to change again. We were getting back into the game and we were just being safe, but we didn’t expect that after six hours it would be so close. The main priority was to keep it safe and bag some points.
"It was good fun and we split strategies between the cars, the No.1 took some left side tyres only, but we dropped back too much to be in the fight at the end.”
