Audi was just 0.019 seconds away from putting Nico Hulkenberg into Q3 in the qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1. The German finished 11th, while Gabriel Bortoleto took 12th position in a session marked by extremely tight margins.
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This minimal difference reinforced the competitiveness of the midfield pack on a new circuit, where finding a complete lap was not an easy task. For Allan McNish, Audi’s competition director, the team managed to extract practically everything the car had available.
“It was a very tight qualifying session on a circuit where it is not easy to put together laps. Despite that, Nico and Gabi, as well as the team, managed to deliver a good performance,” McNish assessed. According to him, the difference of less than two hundredths left Hulkenberg on the wrong side of the fight for Q3, but there is no reason for great frustration.
Hulkenberg confirmed the assessment and highlighted the session’s balance: “It was incredibly tight today, and we missed Q3 by just 0.019 seconds. We knew that qualifying on a completely new circuit would be contested, and that’s exactly what happened,” he said.
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Bortoleto, who advanced to Q2 and finished just behind his teammate, considered his performance positive, although he acknowledges there was still room for improvement: “It was difficult to do the perfect lap. We changed the car quite a bit since yesterday, and I found more confidence in qualifying, but I think there was definitely more to get out today,” he added.
For the race, the Brazilian sees the possibility of advancing but points to pace and tire degradation as determining factors. Hulkenberg also highlighted the uncertainty, as it will be the first race on the circuit, and stated that the initial priority will be to avoid problems before assessing what Audi can aim for throughout the race.
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