A bitter pill to swallow for Nico Hülkenberg (Audi/17th): “An unnecessary mistake”

It’s a mixed bag for Audi: Gabriel Bortoleto squeezed into the top ten as the tenth-fastest driver, but for the experienced Nico Hülkenberg, qualifying was already over after the first segment.

Nico Hülkenberg could only manage P17 in the Audi; with a car that’s fast enough for the top ten, this time it’s down to the 39-year-old German, as the Emmerich native immediately admitted.

Hülki locked up the right front wheel on his final attempt in Q1, causing him to veer off the ideal line – there was nothing he could do to salvage the situation.

Nico said afterwards: “I was trying a bit too hard there; the wheel locked up under braking, and everything was lost in that one corner. It’s bitter, of course – an unnecessary mistake in Q1, and that’s down to me.”

“It’s very frustrating, because we would have got through easily, given how I was riding on the lap before, but that’s all ‘would-haves’, ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ now.”

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“In terms of the approach, it was okay, but I just needed a clean lap. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”