Nico Hülkenberg was satisfied with his performance during qualifying for the British Grand Prix on Saturday despite losing his fastest time in Q3 for exceeding track limits.
The Sahara Force India driver will start eighth on the grid for Sunday’s race once Sebastian Vettel takes his five-place grid penalty for the gearbox change on his Ferrari, but the lap that was deleted could have seen him ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr in seventh.
Hülkenberg is hopeful of a points finish on Sunday, especially after the disappointment of his race in Austria last weekend where after starting on the front row he dropped out of the points and ultimately retired.
“It looks like I will be starting from P8 and that’s pretty much where we expected to be,” said Hülkenberg. “It was very tight with McLaren and Toro Rosso in that session and the margins were very small.
“Unfortunately my final lap in Q3 was deleted because I ran a little bit wide through Copse corner and couldn’t keep the car inside the track limits. Without that, I would have been a place higher up.
“I think the stewards are correct to insist on these track limits and it’s something we discussed yesterday in the drivers’ meeting, so you have to accept the penalty.
“Looking ahead to the race, there’s talk of showers once again, and to be honest I don’t mind if we get some rain because it would mix things up. Whatever happens, I just want to have a strong race and bring home some good points.”
