United States GP: Hülkenberg hindered by a visor tear-off

Nico Hülkenberg aimed to place his Force India in the top 10 during the United States Grand Prix qualifying this afternoon, but the German driver did not succeed, hindered by… a visor tear-off that stuck to his tire and caused his performance to drop.

« To begin with, the qualifying was going well, and I really believed Q3 was possible. In my last Q2 lap, I was on pace for the top 10 until something really unusual happened because a visor tear-off wrapped around my front tire as I approached turn 12. I’ve never encountered this in my career before, and when I turned into the corner, I had no grip, went wide, and lost a few tenths. It was my last Q2 lap, so it was frustrating and unlucky, » explains Hülkenberg.

Despite his 13th place on the provisional grid, the German remains optimistic for Sunday’s race: « As far as the race is concerned, it is going to be difficult because the soft tires pose a challenge here and we expect warmer temperatures tomorrow. Scoring points will be our goal as we are usually better on Sunday afternoons. »

On the other side of the Force India garage, things were not as unusual but the result is essentially the same. Indeed, Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q2 as well and will start from the 11th position on the provisional grid.

The Mexican, who has many fans due to Austin’s proximity to Mexico, was greatly hindered by the wind at the Circuit of the Americas: « It has been a difficult weekend so far to work on the car’s balance because the windy conditions have affected us a lot. The wind constantly changes direction, making the car unpredictable and making it difficult to be consistent. So it was difficult to do a perfect lap. »