Alan McNish: We have taken another step forward.
Nico Hülkenberg managed to replicate Audi F1's best qualifying result – today in Barcelona he showed the 9th fastest time. Gabriel Bortoleto just missed out on advancing to the final session – the Brazilian driver was 12th.
Alan McNish, team sporting director: “Overall, it was a very positive day. Nico performed quite confidently, made it to the final, demonstrated impressive consistency in all sessions, and matched our best qualifying result of the year.
Gabriel also showed great pace, but unfortunately, in his decisive attempt in the second session, he couldn't put together the perfect lap. Nevertheless, in terms of speed, he was roughly on par with Nico, and tomorrow he will have a good opportunity to fight for points.
Looking at the bigger picture, the most encouraging aspect is that the team has taken another step forward. We knew the car was capable of good pace, and we managed to convert that into a higher qualifying result, which definitely indicates progress. And ahead of tomorrow's race, this gives us confidence.”
Nico Hülkenberg (9th): “I’m satisfied with the result. 9th place is a decent outcome for us in qualifying, and I don’t think we could have achieved more.
But it can't be said that qualifying went smoothly. In the first session, I had a dangerous moment in Turn 3 during my first attempt, I went off track, and the result was deleted. This meant we had to use an extra set of tires to get through to the second session. All of this somewhat affected our further plans, but we kept calm, continued to act clearly, and managed to reach the final.
The competition is very fierce, so I’m pleased that I was able to show my best qualifying result of the season. Tomorrow we have the first truly hot race of the year ahead of us, so proper tire management will be a key factor, as the degradation level is very high.
Our car has performed well on long runs, and I’m confident that tomorrow we can fight for points.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (12th): “Overall, qualifying went fine. The lap during my last attempt was going well, but the final sector could have been better.
As for tomorrow's race, I think we have a good chance. A lot will depend on the race pace, but I’m confident that we can handle things well and make it into the top ten.”
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Alan McNish: We have taken another step forward.
Nico Hülkenberg managed to match Audi F1's best qualifying result – today in Barcelona he showed the 9th fastest time. Gabriel Bortoleto was just short of making it to the final session – the Brazilian driver was 12th...