Problems with the engine caused Nico Hulkenberg’s early exit from qualifying in Bahrain, it has been revealed.
The German had appeared a strong candidate for the ‘best of the rest’ all weekend, but when it mattered, an agonising Q1 knockout ensued with just 0.075s between himself in P17 and the cut-off time.
“We, unfortunately, suffered a couple of issues with the car at the worst possible time during qualifying,” Hulkenberg claimed.
“We lost performance and there was no chance of fixing anything in a short amount of time. We need to understand and fix these problems so they don’t happen again.”
And given the potential his Renault had shown in the build-up to qualifying, that only added to the disappointment.
“I’ve felt good in the car all weekend, so it’s a shame to miss out on a top 10 grid slot for the race,” Nico added.
Sporting director Alan Permane later confirmed a mapping issue had put Hulkenberg’s engine into a safe mode for much of the Q1 lap.
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The result though was the Enstone team’s hopes sat on Daniel Ricciardo, who had sat well off his teammate’s pace all weekend.
Having scrambled into Q2, the Australian managed to finish P11, which now becomes P10 after a penalty for Romain Grosjean.
“Qualifying wasn’t perfect for us by any means, but it’s an improvement from where we’ve been so far this weekend,” he commented.
“In the end, we were closer to Q3 than we expected at the end of Friday. We’re there or thereabouts and we know we have things to work on.
“I’m still learning to master this car, but I’m getting there each time I step into it.”
And Ricciardo hopes one result of missing the top 10 can become a positive on Sunday.
“We have a free choice of tyres for tomorrow’s race, which gives us some things to assess overnight on strategy, he added.
“I’ll be aiming to get the most out of it, and taking a handful of points is certainly a possibility.”
