Nico Hülkenberg is back on the front row
Nico Hülkenberg took full advantage of the changing conditions at the end of the session to set the third fastest time in qualifying. Nico Rosberg's penalty even propelled him to the front row, alongside Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez suffered a broken suspension in Q1 and will therefore only start 16th.
When the weather decides to make an appearance right in the middle of qualifying, it generally causes shaken-up hierarchies. The Spielberg qualifications were no exception, and Nico Hülkenberg managed to stand out, just as he did in Brazil in 2010: « The drying track today reminded me of my pole position in Brazil in 2010, and I must say I love these tricky conditions. You don’t know where the grip is, you have to take risks, and you need to switch to slicks at just the right moment, which we did today. »
This is therefore the first time in six years that he finds himself on the front line, thanks to the change of gearbox on Nico Rosberg’s car. While he knows there will be many cars behind him, he hopes to significantly increase his points in the championship, or even (finally) step onto his first F1 podium.
On the other hand, it was Sergio Perez’s turn to be unlucky. Indeed, while he had set a time that would have easily allowed him to advance to Q2, he became a victim of a broken suspension: « We had found a good balance on the car this morning and we should have easily reached Q3. I was on my second run in Q1 when I felt something strange at the back of my car. I managed to get back to the pits and we saw that it was a suspension failure. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to repair the car, and my session was over. »
His mission will be to use the potential of his car to climb up to the points.
From our special correspondent in Spielberg
