Hulkenberg disappointed with qualifying mistake
Sahara Force India showed strong form during the qualifying hour as Nico Hulkenberg qualified in tenth place for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with Paul Di Resta a row further back in twelfth. Nico Hulkenberg however is adamant it was possible to do even better.
Nico Hulkenberg, P10, VJM05/03:
Q1: 1:22.176, Q2: 1:21.653, Q3: 1:22.847
“I’m happy to be in the top ten but not satisfied with my quick lap in Q3. I tried too hard and made a mistake, got some dirt on my tyres and couldn’t recover the lap. It’s a bit frustrating because my laptime from Q2 would have been good enough for sixth on the grid. So I’m a bit disappointed, but at the same time I’m focussing on the positives because we looked competitive during the session. Now we need to do the same in the race and pick up points.”
Paul Di Resta, P12, VJM05/02:
Q1: 1:21.912, Q2: 1:21.813
“I think there was more potential in the car today, but I couldn’t get the laptime when it counted during Q2. The main issue was trying to find track position and I had to push very hard on my out lap to make some space, which probably took too much out of the tyres. It’s a shame because we were very quick in Q1 and the car has been working well here. We can still have a good race, but it won’t be easy with the high temperatures and the fact that it’s never easy to overtake here.”
Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
“We showed good pace today, but we didn’t quite maximise our performance when it mattered. Nico did a superb lap to make Q3, but a small error on his final quick lap cost him several positions on the grid. Paul has a similar situation in Q2 when the tyre performance dropped off at the end of the lap and he missed out on making the top ten. The good news is that we’ve shown that we have a quick car here in Budapest and hopefully we can demonstrate that again tomorrow when it really counts.”
