Nico Hülkenberg very satisfied with fifth place in Monaco

The work done during the Barcelona tests seems to be paying off as Sahara Force India managed to place both of its drivers in Q3, which hadn’t happened since the Chinese Grand Prix. Additionally, Nico Hülkenberg managed to beat his teammate for the first time since Bahrain.

The German was therefore very satisfied with his very nice fifth-place finish since he did not expect to rank so well: « *I am very happy. We knew we had the speed to be in the top 10 today, but qualifying in 5th position was better than we expected. I had good feelings from the beginning of the weekend and felt comfortable and confident from the start of practice on Thursday.* »

This clear progress comes from the advancements made during the Barcelona tests: « We made a big step forward in Barcelona, and today’s result shows that the car is working well, especially in low-speed corners. My laps in Q1 and Q2 were clean, and in Q3, I managed to find the right formula for my last lap. »

While he has been rather unlucky since the start of the season, he can finally hope to score big points. His teammate, Sergio Perez, will have the same goal, even if he will start two places behind due to a lack of temperature in his tires: “We had a very good pace today and we made progress compared to Thursday, but I struggled to get my tires up to temperature. I think a better position was possible. In any case, it’s a good place to start and we are aiming for a good result.”