Force India drivers narrowly miss out on top 10
Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix saw Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez qualify in P11 and P13 respectively for tomorrow’s race.
Nico Hulkenberg, VJM07-04, 11th: “I was close to making the top ten – just half a tenth would have made the difference, but I think we’ve known since yesterday it was going to be quite tight in qualifying. Having said that, P11 is a good starting position: it gives us some flexibility in terms of the strategy; I get to choose my starting tyres, and I’m feeling quite optimistic about our race pace. The pack is very close in terms of performance but it should be an interesting race because it’s a circuit where overtaking is possible and history has shown that anything can happen here.”
Sergio Perez, VJM07-02, 13th: “It was quite a tricky qualifying session that turned out to be a bit harder than we expected. I’m starting P13, but I’m still feeling very positive about our chances in the race because this is such an unusual track where you can move up the field and take advantage of whatever happens in the race. We have good top speed and that will certainly be important tomorrow. I think we have shown already this year that Sunday is what counts and I’m confident that we can score points and beat some of the cars ahead of us. We will need to get the strategy right - it's always a choice between one and two stops here and we'll need to evaluate which one gives us the best chance for the race.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "It was a very tight qualifying session today. Starting in P11 and P13 means we are not in bad shape, but some of the teams around us seemed to have the edge today and we just missed out on Q3 by a small margin. In terms of car performance both drivers are feeling comfortable and the set-up changes made overnight moved us in the right direction, which gives us every reason to feel more optimistic for tomorrow. The race pace of most of the mid-pack teams has been quite similar and we are certainly up there and in contention to race for some good points on Sunday.”
