F1: Hulkenberg Hoping For Points Despite Frustration

Formula 1

F1: Hulkenberg Hoping For Points Despite Frustration

Force India failed to place a car in Q3 at India, the team's home country...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 27, 2012 New Delhi (IND)

Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12th at Buddh International Circuit. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

To the frustration of team boss Vijay Mallya, Force India’s impressive run of getting at least one car into Q3 came to an end on home ground Saturday at Buddh International Circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12th and teammate Paul Di Resta was a very frustrating 16th. The German, in particular, had looked like a good bet for the top 10 at various points during the weekend.

“I’m not entirely happy, a little bit disappointing,” said Hulkenberg. “The aim was to come into the top 10, and obviously just missed it. It wasn’t for much, a bit more than a tenth and we would have been in the top 10. My lap was very good. I think we did a good job on the setup and the balance of the car from yesterday to today, and I’m afraid that’s pretty much the maximum. We’ve just been a little bit too slow today.

“Nothing went wrong – I think the others just picked up the pace a little bit more. Maybe before they made mistakes, and then when it was important and when it counted, they were able to do the lap and just beat us. It was very marginal.”

However, Hulkenberg is confident of scoring some points: “I think the chances are fully alive. With 12th you’re not far away from the top 10. We have all the chances of scoring points, and I think our long run pace wasn’t too bad yesterday, and also the degradation of the tires seemed to be good for our car. I’m optimistic going into the race, but I think it’s going to be a difficult race, and a hard fight. It won’t come easy.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.