Saturday: Hülkenberg brings smiles at Sauber
Sauber returns to the forefront thanks to Nico Hülkenberg, who places his C32 in the top 10. Less luck for Esteban Gutiérrez, who missed out in Q1 and will start 17th on the grid tomorrow.
Nico Hülkenberg – 10th and 10th:
« I think it’s a good qualifying session. If someone had told us we would be 10th, I wouldn’t have believed it. Since we didn’t do a lap in Q3, there might have been a chance to do better. It’s a great effort, a good lap in Q2. The new features the team brought here work well, and everything went well for us in qualifying. I was happy with the car’s balance, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. We did everything right with our approach of not driving in Q3 to preserve our tires, which now gives us the freedom of choice for the start, which can be an advantage. Now we must make sure to make the right choice. »
Esteban Gutiérrez – 17th and 18th [17th on the grid]:
« It’s a somewhat disappointing result. It was very difficult to set a fast lap with only one attempt. I tried to push a bit too much and it ended with a mistake that costs us a lot. I will improve on this point and ensure to be precise in what I do in the car. Additionally, it’s very tricky with the tires. I’m sorry for the team because we had the potential to easily get into Q2 and fight for Q3. The speed we showed is motivating, but we still need to put everything together, and that applies to me as well. »
