Nico Hülkenberg (18th): “I shouldn’t actually be standing here at all”

A bitter end to qualifying for Nico Hülkenberg! For the German Audi driver, qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku was over after just the first session. And this on the very weekend when he finally had the long-awaited upgrades fitted to his car. Just 18th on the grid for Hülki.

Bad luck with timing and position

Hülkenberg explained after the session how the poor result came about: “It was mainly down to the circumstances. The yellow flag at Turn 15. And then the cars in front of me cut their fast lap short. So I had no slipstream from Turn 16 to the finish line, which is quite a disadvantage here. That combination was our undoing and means we’re out.”

Hülkenberg had been attempting a fast lap shortly before the end of Q1 when an Aston Martin triggered a brief yellow flag in the run-off area. Consequently, he and everyone around him had to ease off the throttle. That was the risk in Baku, where this happened several times in every qualifying session – and caught Hülkenberg at the wrong moment and in the wrong place. Then there was the slipstream problem – a particular setback for the Audi, which isn’t exactly the fastest on the straights.

No concerns about the upgrades, however

However, Hülkenberg does not want to write off the major upgrade package, which features 14 new components spread across the entire car. He said: “I’m confident that we’ll understand it better and optimise it over the coming weeks to get more out of it. It felt quite encouraging and solid right from the start in Thursday’s practice. So I have no concerns or doubts about it. I think it’s definitely better, but I believe there’s still more to learn and more to get out of it.”

He summed up: “It was just bad luck. I shouldn’t actually be standing here at all.” Instead, he should be driving in Q2. Hülkenberg: “I don’t know what happened to Gabi (team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, ed.). But I do know this: when the yellow flag comes out and there’s no car in front of you, you lose about half a second on the straight. That knocks you out of the running. That’s quite clear. So it was down to the circumstances.” At least he’ll have enough cars ahead of him in the Grand Prix to benefit from slipstream.

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