Audi left the Saturday of the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1 with mixed feelings after the qualifying session in Montreal. While Nico Hulkenberg was once again very close to Q3 with P11, Gabriel Bortoleto finished only 13th and highlighted the difficulties faced with the car and at the starts.
Read more F1: Colapinto puts Alpine in Q3 and leaves team excited
Even with the result outside the top ten, the team believes there is still room to seek better performance at Sunday’s GP. The forecast of rain for Sunday also increased the expectation within the team, mainly due to the general lack of knowledge about the behavior of the current generation cars on a wet track.
Audi’s racing director, Allan McNish, assessed that the result reflected the team’s current level of competitiveness. According to him, Hulkenberg once again came close to a spot in Q3, something that shows progress even in a scenario of extremely tight margins.
“The qualifying session unfolded largely as expected, with both drivers completing good sessions and the overall result reflecting our current level of competitiveness,” said McNish. The director also highlighted that the pace shown in the Sprint race was encouraging for Sunday’s GP.
The German finished qualifying in 11th place and regretted missing out on Q3 again by a small margin. Still, Hulkenberg considered that the team managed to extract practically everything the car offered at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.
Read more F1: Hamilton sees rain as a chance for Ferrari in Canada
“Being just before Q3 once again is obviously frustrating, especially with such small margins, but overall, I am quite satisfied with the session,” said the German. He also pointed out difficulties related to grip and car balance, as well as noting that the circuit highlights limitations in drivability and power unit.
On the other side of the garage, Bortoleto finished the Sprint in 12th and will start only 13th in the GP. The Brazilian stated that he felt more comfortable in the car previously and acknowledged that this Saturday’s qualifying was not the cleanest.
“Today was not the cleanest qualifying session, I would say I felt a bit more comfortable in the car yesterday,” said the Brazilian. Bortoleto added that rain could shuffle the scenario and revealed that he has not yet driven the new Formula 1 cars on a wet track.
The young driver also drew attention to the problems faced at the starts, something that was evident in the Sprint held earlier: “We are still struggling with the starts, as we saw earlier today in the Sprint, but if we get it right, we can find something during the race,” he added.
Read more F1: McLaren sees chance of victory with rain in Canada
