Di Resta strong as Hulkenberg hits car issues
Sahara Force India delivered a strong performance during Italian Grand Prix qualifying as Paul Di Resta set the fourth fastest time of the session. However, the joy was tempered by a fuel pressure issue for Nico Hulkenberg, preventing him from setting a time.
Paul Di Resta, VJM05/02, 4th (to start from 9th due to gearbox change penalty)
Q1: 1:24.875 / Q2: 1:24.345 / Q3: 1:24.304
“The car has been working well all weekend so I knew we were in good shape going into qualifying. We were in the top five of free practice and the car has got better and better with each run as the track evolved. I’m very happy with my Q3 lap, which was my quickest lap so far – so we maximised it when it mattered. I think the entire team has done an excellent job to get us in this position – we’ve trusted our instincts and just worked away at dialling the car into the track. I knew I was going to have a grid penalty for the gearbox change, which is frustrating, but at least I will start inside the top ten. The challenge now is to make sure we have the race pace and use the strategy to come away with points.”
Nico Hulkenberg, VJM05/03, 24th
Q: No time
“A very short and disappointing session for me. I was about to start my first timed lap in Q1 when I suddenly lost drive. I pulled over at the first chicane and the team told me to switch off the car. It’s a shame this happened on a day when the car looks so competitive, but that’s racing. Starting so far back tomorrow will be tough, but I will try and push through so that we can hopefully come away with something from the race.”
Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
“We had a very competitive car today and Paul delivered an excellent performance to set the fourth fastest time in Q3 – it was his quickest lap of the weekend and his best ever qualifying performance. It’s just unfortunate that he will take a five-place penalty for the gearbox change. Even so, he will be in the mix tomorrow and will be strong in the race. The big disappointment of the session was the technical fault on Nico’s car, which we believe to be related to fuel pressure. Without this issue I’m confident we would have had both cars well inside the top ten. The task now is to come away from here with points to strengthen our position in the championship.”
