Nico Hulkenberg has reflected on his Friday at the Canadian GP ahead of Saturday qualifying.
Nico Hulkenberg gave an honest assessment of his Friday at the Canadian GP, he and Sauber slowly improved their pace.
The first practice session proved to be a disaster, as the German languished down at the bottom of the standings. He was over three tenths away from team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, who also endured a challenging day.
But his prospects improved dramatically in the second session. He jumped to 14th, less than a tenth away from Bortoleto, who also endured a conflicting day at the Canadian GP.
A day of “going through the motions of a normal Friday” for Nico Hulkenberg
Speaking to the media after the session, Hulkenberg was pressed on whether the car has what it needs to cope with unique characteristics of Montreal.
“I think it’s very, very tight, as always.And obviously it’s a short lap, being around the 1 minute 12-ish. But yeah, I think a decent Friday. Just going through the motions of a normal Friday.
“Obviously quite a different track and feeling to Barcelona. Low downforce, much more low speed, dominated circuit. So yeah, been interesting.I think it was a good day though, overall. Some interesting lessons. You know, did quite a bit of setup work between P1 and P2.And we’ll digest all that.
The soft tyre was prevalent in both sessions, with teams split between using these and the medium tyres.
Nico Hulkenberg said the choices of tyres would create interesting strategic calls for Sunday’s race.
“It’s surprising how always still the soft compounds actually do hold up okay. But yeah, I think strategy-wise this can be very interesting for Sunday. Thanks for watching.”
Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed a competitive showing at the last round in Barcelona. Charging through the field, he finished a spectacular fifth after passing Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari in the closing stages of the race.
Coming into the Canadian GP, Hulkenberg lies 11th in the driver standings, four points behind Esteban Ocon in tenth.
Hulkenberg’s strong Spanish GP performance has helped Sauber leap to eighth in the constructors’ championship, tied with Aston Martin, ten points away from Haas.
