United States GP: Qualifying notes - Force India

17/11/2012

Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix saw Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg set the eighth fastest time of the day. Teammate Paul Di Resta will line-up in P13.

Nico Hulkenberg: "I'm happy to get another top ten result and it's been a good effort by the whole team, especially given where we were yesterday evening. My lap in Q3 was not too bad, but I was a little compromised by a Williams in the last couple of corners, so maybe there was a little bit more to come. Generally I'm quite happy and confident we can race strongly because our long-run pace looked competitive yesterday. There are lots of unknowns about tomorrow because there is no data from the past to help us, but we're in good shape and I'm really enjoying driving at this new track."

Paul Di Resta: "It has been a difficult weekend so far and I'm still struggling to get the tyres working. I have quite a smooth driving style so maybe that's why I haven't been able to switch them on as well as Nico, who has a more aggressive approach. The good news is that P13 is on the cleaner side of the grid so that should help me maximise the start. It's a long race but I'm not really sure what to expect tomorrow. The car is not quite where I want it to be so I just need to make the best of it and hope we can use the strategy to help us move forward."

Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: "The Circuit of the Americas is a spectacular venue for motor racing and it was great to see so many fans here to watch today's qualifying session. It's not been the easiest of weekends for us in terms of setting up the car and getting the tyres to work, but the changes overnight certainly improved the situation and we looked more competitive in final practice. By the time of the qualifying session, Nico was feeling a lot more confident and managed to make Q3 once again. With a grid penalty for Grosjean, we expect Nico to start from seventh. Paul has been struggling more with the tyres, but he's certainly in the mix for the race and will continue to fight. The priority tomorrow is to pick up points and strengthen our position in the championship."

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