Saturday: Hülkenberg reaches Q3 at home
After several challenging races, Team Sauber finds some reason to smile thanks to Nico Hülkenberg's qualification in Q3; the German driver will start from 10th position on the grid tomorrow. Improvements also for Esteban Gutierrez, who will start from 14th place.
Nico Hülkenberg – 9th and 10th:
« Reaching Q3 today was a real success for us. I am convinced that we can achieve a good result tomorrow. Compared to yesterday afternoon, we were able to improve the settings during this morning’s practice session. I think we now have a package that allows us to fight for points. The long runs yesterday looked promising, and combined with a strategy I can choose for tomorrow’s start, I am confident that we can do well. I didn’t set a time in Q3, so I can choose my tires for the race start tomorrow. I am convinced that this will be an advantage. The team told me that 6th place was possible today, but today is Saturday and the race is what counts, as you only score points tomorrow. The softs are quite tricky to manage here, especially with a full load. We will start in the top 10 tomorrow and our goal is to stay in the points. »
Esteban Gutierrez – 12th and 14th:
« Today was a step forward for us. We worked on a lot of different setups yesterday and we were able to draw the right conclusions from the data collected. I was able to attack and get the most out of the car. However, I still need to improve. Nico did a fantastic lap and it’s a challenge, but I will continue to improve my level of performance, especially in qualifying. 14th is, with Malaysia, my best qualifying result so far. Tomorrow, we will need to have a good strategy to move up. »
