"I just really drove it as hard as I could. I made a mistake with three laps to go, she pulled alongside me, couldn't make the pass. At that point, I was hoping for a no-yellow because I was going to be a sitting duck (he was on primary Firestone Firehawks and de Silvestro was running the more-grip alternate tires) and I would lose third position. Simona blew my doors off on a restart before and I knew she was strong.”
If she could have utilized the Honda overtake assist more often (there were 15 pushes left of the system than responded with 12 seconds of added horsepower), the outcome might have been a dousing of champagne on the podium.
"I was running fourth and didn't want to try anything crazy,” de Silvestro replied.
“I tried at the end to try to get third place but I wasn't quite there. Tony was struggling at the end quite a bit and I was really pushing. I almost got inside of him in Turn 1. It was a big risk to take but I think it was the right choice. It's a lot of fun because on the street courses as a driver you can really push yourself and find the limit."
"Definitely today is going to go right up there, too, because I think it was one of my best races. I didn’t really make too many mistakes and I think we are just here to try to beat every driver,” she said.
If she could have utilized the Honda overtake assist more often (there were 15 pushes left of the system than responded with 12 seconds of added horsepower), the outcome might have been a dousing of champagne on the podium.
"I was running fourth and didn't want to try anything crazy,” de Silvestro replied.
“I tried at the end to try to get third place but I wasn't quite there. Tony was struggling at the end quite a bit and I was really pushing. I almost got inside of him in Turn 1. It was a big risk to take but I think it was the right choice. It's a lot of fun because on the street courses as a driver you can really push yourself and find the limit."
"Definitely today is going to go right up there, too, because I think it was one of my best races. I didn’t really make too many mistakes and I think we are just here to try to beat every driver,” she said.
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| Photo: indycar.com |