Nico Hulkenberg’s qualifying disrupted by yellow flags

Nico Hulkenberg is adamant he could’ve progressed to Q3 earlier today in qualifying, after yellow flags disrupted the German’s final flying lap in the second part of the qualifying hour. Whereas his team-mate Paul di Resta progressed to Q3 and eventually qualified 8th, Hulkenberg had to settle for 13th position on the grid.

Although the 24-year-old German will line-up several places behind his team-mate on the grid for tomorrows race, he is confident he can progress through the field on a track which is relatively easy to overtake on. The last time Hulkenberg raced around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was back in 2010, during his debut season with Williams.

“I don’t think that P13 reflects the pace we had in the car today.” Explained Nico Hulkenberg, “We looked very strong in Q1. But I had some bad luck in Q2 when I got caught out by a yellow flag on my quickest lap because a Sauber went off ahead of me in turn eight and I had to abort the lap. If I had managed a clean lap, I think I could probably have made Q3. I still feel positive for tomorrow and the field is very close. We know overtaking is possible here so I think we can expect a challenging and entertaining race.”

Force India have had two double points finishes so far in 2012, at the Malaysian and Monaco Grands Prix. Team Principal and Managing Director of the team, Vijay Mallya, is confident his team can replicate such a result tomorrow in the race around Montreal.

“We came to Canada believing that we had a car that was capable of qualifying in the top ten and we’ve demonstrated that today.” Said Vijay Mallya, “Had it not been for some bad luck on Nico’s part during Q2, I’m convinced we would have had two cars in the top ten. We will be ready to capitalize on any chances that come our way and determined to deliver another double points finish.”

With a very tight and competitive midfield this season, Force India will be looking to score as many points as possible tomorrow. The Silverstone-based team currently sit 8th in the Constructors Championship, with 28 points scored. Both Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta will striving to add further points to that total by the end of tomorrows race.

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