Hulkenberg: Seventh well deserved

Nico Hulkenberg labelled his seventh-place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix as a well-deserved and unexpected result following his penalty.


The German driver qualified in tenth position on Saturday but dropped down to 15th after being forced to replace his car's gearbox following a crash during final practice.

Hulkenberg admitted he did not expect to secure such a strong result after his Saturday problems.

"If you had told me before the race that we would finish seventh, I would have taken it straight away - so I'm very happy with today's result," said Hulkenberg.

"I made a great start, moving ahead of several cars and was able to keep out of the trouble in turn one. By the end of lap one I was already in eighth and as it turned out we had good pace.

"The car felt strong throughout the race: there was a nice balance and I was able to chase Lewis and Kimi hard and put pressure on them. They edged away towards the end and for the closing laps I just had to make sure I kept ahead of Maldonado.

"So another seventh place - a well-deserved result for the team after a tough weekend for the mechanics and six important points for the championship."

Source: Autosport.com

Japan Race - Force India driver quotes

Nico Hulkenberg (7th)
“If you had told me before the race that we would finish seventh, I would have taken it straight away - so I’m very happy with today’s result. I made a great start, moving ahead of several cars and was able to keep out of the trouble in turn one. By the end of lap one I was already in eighth and as it turned out we had good pace. The car felt strong throughout the race: there was a nice balance and I was able to chase Lewis and Kimi hard and put pressure on them. They edged away towards the end and for the closing laps I just had to make sure I kept ahead of Maldonado. So another seventh place - a well-deserved result for the team after a tough weekend for the mechanics and six important points for the championship.”

Paul di Resta (12th)
“Quite a testing race for me. Things started to go wrong on the parade lap when I had a clutch issue, so it was not a big surprise when I made a poor getaway off the line. Going into turn one I was almost at the back of the field so I was able to stay out of trouble and avoid the accidents ahead of me. But when you lose so much ground at the start it’s difficult to recover. I was always in traffic and without running in clean air I couldn’t really show the potential of the car. We were not too far away with the set-up, but I never really found the sweet spot during the race. Hopefully I can go to Korea and get back in the points.”

Robert Fernley, Force India deputy team principal
“An excellent drive by Nico and very encouraging to see such strong race pace on a track that has never really played to our strengths. We made the right calls on the strategy and for much of the race Nico was up there pushing hard to get ahead of Lewis. Paul’s race was seriously compromised by a poor getaway, which we will investigate, and that meant we missed out on getting both cars in the points. In terms of the championship we’ve edged further ahead of Williams and Sauber remain just about in sight. I’d also like to pay special credit to both sides of the garage for their incredible effort this weekend. We kept them very busy and they did an amazing job under difficult conditions. Overall it’s been a remarkable team effort.”

Source: F1.com

Hulkenberg says penalty his own fault

Nico Hulkenberg accepted the blame for the gearbox-change penalty he will get for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
 
The Force India driver lost control of his car during the final practice session at Suzuka, damaging the front and forcing his team to replace the gearbox after making contact with the tyre wall.

The gearbox change means the German will lose five places on the grid after qualifying in 10th position.

"It was a bit of a tricky day, starting with my accident this morning. That wasn't in the schedule," said Hulkenberg. "We made the most of it and the mechanics did a fantastic job to turn the car around in the first place.

"We whizzed into Q3 and we have to pay the price now for this morning because we damaged the gearbox.

"I'm in the car, so I'm responsible for what happened. It wasn't a silly mistake, just a small lock-up and with the way that corner is, there was no way to recover it. The timing was pretty bad and now we have to deal with the situation as best as we can."

Hulkenberg decided not to post a time in Q3 in order to save tyres, and he will have a fresh set of soft rubber for the race.

"Given where we were, we didn't think we can get much further up than 10th so we decided not to run to save tyres and give us the flexibility of what to start on," he added.

"The target is always trying to get points. We're more in the back of the field, so we need to survive the first lap and I don't know where we will end up. Hopefully we can squeeze ourselves into the points."

Team-mate Paul di Resta was knocked out in Q2 and qualified in 12th position, but the Scot said he was pleased with his effort after missing all of Friday's second practice following his crash.

"There was a tenth in there. I came across [Romain] Grosjean at the Degner 2 and the hairpin and just lost a bit of downforce," di Resta said. "The car is very sensitive to the cars in front of it. I wouldn't say it was a mistake, but I just slightly locked an inside front wheel and didn't have the grip.

"Other than that, it was good and we both matched each other the rest of the way. Other than that, it was a shame not to make it into Q3. We can be quite happy with having a new set of tyres for tomorrow.

"Given the loss of track time yesterday, we should be grateful of where we qualified. It's nice to be in a position where we can challenge."

Source: Autosport.com

Japan GP Qualifying - Force India driver quotes

Force India
Nico Hulkenberg (10th, Q3 - no time)
“The build-up to qualifying was quite intense because the guys were working hard to repair my car after the accident this morning. It was not a big impact, but the angle was unfortunate and there was quite a lot to fix - so all credit to the boys who got me out with enough time to set a time in Q1. The car felt good straight away and we made it through to Q3, which was always the target. We then took a strategic decision to save tyres so I didn’t set a time. That opens up the strategy for tomorrow, especially because we knew I would get a five-place grid penalty for changing the gearbox. There’s still a chance to get points tomorrow if we can make our strategy work.”

Paul di Resta (12th, Q2 -1m 32.327s)
“It was quite a tough session with traffic today and even on my quick lap in Q2 I was slightly compromised in the second sector. I locked a wheel and it may only have cost half a tenth, but that’s how close the margin was to the top ten. I think given what happened yesterday with losing so much track time we can be pretty happy with our performance today. We have got ourselves up there, close to the top ten and in with a chance of points. For tomorrow it’s clear that tyre wear will be a big issue for everyone, but hopefully we can use the strategy to challenge the people in front. There are some question marks going into the race because I’ve done no high fuel running, but we have data with the other car.”

Robert Fernley, Force India deputy team principal
“We’ve been reasonably competitive in all the sessions leading up to qualifying so we felt we had a car that was capable of reaching the top ten. But the pressure was on to fix Nico’s car in the run up to qualifying and as a precaution we had to change the gearbox. As always the boys did a fantastic job to get the car running in time and Nico was immediately on the pace. A place in Q3 was a good effort, although the gearbox penalty means he will drop down the grid. Paul has been playing catch up after losing track time yesterday and was close to making Q3 as well. So we’ve done all we can to be in with a chance of points tomorrow and left ourselves plenty of flexibility with he strategy of both cars.”

Source : F1.com 

Friday practice - Force India driver quotes

Force India
Nico Hulkenberg, P1 - 1:35.474, 9th; P2 - 1:32.987, 4th
“Quite a smooth Friday for me and nice to have two dry sessions with consistent weather. We went through the programme and did all the things we wanted to with no issues. I’m quite happy with the car on low fuel, but I think we still have some work to do to improve our high fuel performance. We took our usual approach with the tyres and did long runs on the hard and soft compounds, so we have lots of information to help us for the race.”

Paul di Resta, P2 - 1:35.299, 8th; P2 - no time, 24th
“The morning session was straightforward and the balance was good straight after lunch with the changes we had made to the car. Unfortunately I made a mistake quite early on and was probably a bit too ambitious. I found myself with my two right side wheels on the grass and lost grip on the loose dirt. It’s a shame it had to happen so early in the session and it creates extra work for the guys tonight. You have to be on the edge to feel what the car is doing and sometimes these things happen, but hopefully it won’t cost us too much for the rest of the weekend.”

Jakob Andreasen, Force India chief engineer
“Overall we’re pleased with how things went today. The car is working well and the drivers feel comfortable. The things we tried out gave us the results we hoped for so I’d say we are moving in the right direction and learning how to get more performance from the car. Paul lost track time this afternoon with a small mistake, so we will assess how to approach tomorrow to make sure he is ready for qualifying. Tyres will be a challenge here, as always, but I think we know the limits of both the hard and soft compounds, and have good long run data.”

Source: F1.com

JAPAN - Force India preview quotes

Paul di Resta, Force India
2011 Qualifying - 12th, 2011 Race - 12th
“It’s a track that’s all about aero so it’s a real test of your car. I also found it very technical with corners like the ‘S' curves where you need a good change of direction. Finding the sweet spot isn’t easy because half the track is made up of straights so you need efficiency as well as downforce for the high-speed corners. Tyre degradation is also high so a neutral car is what you need during the race.

“The thing that surprised me last year was the commitment and enthusiasm of the fans. Even on Thursday the grandstands were busy. So that makes it a special race and the fact that it’s a track with a lot of history. I also enjoy Japanese food, although the challenge is making sure you order the right thing!”

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India
2011 Qualifying - n/a, 2011 Race - n/a
“My race in 2010 with Williams was not especially memorable because I was taken out before the first corner. That was a real shame because it’s a track I really enjoy and with corners like the ‘S’ curves it’s a great experience in a Formula One car.

“Suzuka is definitely one of my favourite circuits: it’s really challenging and technical, and you need a good car balance to hook up a good lap. Because it’s so technical it’s important to find a good rhythm because if you mess up one corner you can lose the flow of the whole lap.

“I’m feeling positive and we have generated some good momentum within the team recently so I want to keep that going. The goal is to keep getting consistent results in the points.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal
“Historically Suzuka has never been our best track, but hopefully this time the team has something up its sleeve. I think we have been pretty consistent on most tracks this season so we are quietly confident that we can perform well this weekend. I certainly hope we can pull some rabbits out of the hat in Japan and Korea and come away with some more points.”

Source : F1.com 

Mallya: One podium could be decisive

Vijay Mallya believes one podium finish could prove decisive to Force India's fortunes in the 2012 constructors' championship.
 
Paul di Resta secured the outfit's second top-four finish in the last three grands prix last time out at Singapore, coming home less than four seconds behind championship leader Fernando Alonso.

The result moved Force India to within 26 points of Sauber, currently sixth in the constructors' standings, with six races to go.

Mallya is aware that catching the Swiss squad will depend of how strongly both squads perform in the upcoming races, but the Indian team boss is still hopeful it can be done - especially if it can secure that elusive podium finish.

"I still remember the situation in 2010 when Williams pipped us by one point at the last race, so I guess it's not over until it's over," said Mallya.

"I'm still hoping that we can do it and one strong podium finish could help to wipe out Sauber's advantage. 

"This is the second time we've finished fourth in the last three races, so we're becoming the bridesmaid a bit too often!"

Mallya thinks that Force India is missing an element of luck this year, but is pleased with both his team's points tally and its recent form.

"It all depends how strong our rivals are in the final six races, but we certainly have some momentum," he said.

"As I've said before that little bit of luck has eluded us. Hopefully it will come to us one day, because we've shown the pace of the car.

"Paul drove fantastically well and we earned 12 points. It's not bad to be sitting at this stage of the season with 75 points in total - we've come a long way."

Source: Autosport.com