Nico Hülkenberg survives for Renault in Australia
Nico Hülkenberg came very close to reaching Q3 in his first race with Renault, but had to settle for 12th place. Jolyon Palmer, meanwhile, suffered and finished last in the session.
One of the main questions at the start of this season is whether Nico Hülkenberg made the right decision to take the risk of leaving Sahara Force India in favor of Renault. The first qualifying session of the year has provided an initial piece of evidence.
Nico Hülkenberg, 12th (1:24.975 in Q2)
The German had a solid qualification, finishing in twelfth place. Most notably, he ended just a hundredth behind his former teammate, Sergio Perez. This is a sign of the progress made by Renault compared to last year since Renault hadn’t been this well-positioned since the Belgian Grand Prix, as highlighted by Alan Permane, the sporting director of the French manufacturer: « It was a positive first session with the R.S.17, although it’s frustrating to miss Q3 given our pace. Nico did an excellent job showing that we are where we wanted to be: in the midfield, very close to Williams, Toro Rosso, and Haas. We expect some great battles tomorrow. It’s clear that we made a big leap forward during the winter and there is still much to extract from the car. »
His driver was also satisfied to be in the fight and only a tenth away from the final part of qualifying: « It was a solid first qualifying session with the team. We were just a tenth away from Q3. It was really achievable, but I lacked a bit of luck struggling with balance and grip on my fastest lap in Q2. »
With his starting position, he can have no other ambitions than to aim for points at the end of the race.
Jolyon Palmer, 20th (1:28.244 in Q1), will start 19th
On the contrary, Jolyon Palmer had a very difficult qualification, struggling with the overall balance of his car. He was never able to drive with full confidence, which was reflected on the timing board, where he finished in last position: “This is not really what was planned today. I had no grip and struggled with the brakes. We need to find out what went wrong. Yesterday, the car seemed much better and I was faster on soft tires with a much higher fuel load. So far, the weekend is quite far from the start of the season I was hoping for, but let’s wait and see what happens during the race.”
He can slightly console himself by saying that he gains a place on the grid, thanks to Lance Stroll’s gearbox change.
