MONZA, Sept 6: Sahara Force India endured a tough qualifying as Sergio Perez secured a 10th place on the grid but Nico Hulkenberg faded in Q2, managing P14 for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg’s fastest lap in Q2 came in 1:26.279 while Perez entered the Q3 with a timing of 1:25.863.
“We can be happy about this result: P9 could have been possible, perhaps, but I feel we nearly maximised our potential and that’s all we could have asked from this session,” Perez, who timed 1:25.944 in Q3, said.
“Looking at our performance yesterday, our race pace should be strong, but there are not that many options to choose from with the strategy. Anything can happen on this track and I am confident we can pick up good points,” said the Mexican.
Hulkenberg said his position today “could have been better.”
“The main issue was the heavy traffic on my out lap going into the final corner, which really hurt my preparation. Everybody was backing up so I had to slow down and lost tyre temperature and pressure, and could not improve my time. Also, my first run in Q2 was not quite strong enough so we missed out on Q3,” the German said. (PTI)
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