Nico Hulkenberg, driving to impress possible new employers since his seat at Williams is up for grabs, put in the performance of his racing career to take pole for the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix, beating out the Red Bulls by more than a second.
This was Hulkenberg’s first career pole and the first for Williams since 2005.
Qualifying started in the rain, with everyone on intermediates, but shortly after the start of Q3 everyone came in and changed to slicks. The track got drier and faster, and times tumbled with each lap. Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton all held the best time for a lap, before the Red Bulls asserted their usual dominance. But it was Nico Huklkenberg who came back with a final blistering lap to beat the field.
Hamilton, Vettel, and Webber all made a final attempt but none could match the flying Williams driver.
The Red Bulls did capture second and third, with Hamilton fourth and Alonso fifth.
“It is amazing,” Hulkenberg told SPEED-TV. “I still cannot believe that I have done it. A big, big thank you to the team putting a good car together for qualifying.
“I was just squeezing everything I could out of my car, trying to do a very smooth lap, not to get on any wet parts and make a mistake. What a nice surprise for us on Saturday to be on pole. Very, very happy obviously and I am just enjoying the moment.”
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel pointed out that the track was not completely dry, making a fast run on slicks a bit perilous.
“Yes, it was a tricky session,” he said.” A tough call in the end in Q3 after the first run on inters. The circuit looked dry but still the last sector, particularly, was very tricky. It was getting better and better but extremely difficult, slippery.
“Congratulations to Nico. It is very tricky in these conditions, very easy to make a mistake, so as you said we were targeting for pole, but Nico was better than all of us today. But still it was very tricky and I am very happy with second.”
Championship Battle
This was Hulkenberg’s first career pole and the first for Williams since 2005.
Qualifying started in the rain, with everyone on intermediates, but shortly after the start of Q3 everyone came in and changed to slicks. The track got drier and faster, and times tumbled with each lap. Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton all held the best time for a lap, before the Red Bulls asserted their usual dominance. But it was Nico Huklkenberg who came back with a final blistering lap to beat the field.
Hamilton, Vettel, and Webber all made a final attempt but none could match the flying Williams driver.
The Red Bulls did capture second and third, with Hamilton fourth and Alonso fifth.
“It is amazing,” Hulkenberg told SPEED-TV. “I still cannot believe that I have done it. A big, big thank you to the team putting a good car together for qualifying.
“I was just squeezing everything I could out of my car, trying to do a very smooth lap, not to get on any wet parts and make a mistake. What a nice surprise for us on Saturday to be on pole. Very, very happy obviously and I am just enjoying the moment.”
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel pointed out that the track was not completely dry, making a fast run on slicks a bit perilous.
“Yes, it was a tricky session,” he said.” A tough call in the end in Q3 after the first run on inters. The circuit looked dry but still the last sector, particularly, was very tricky. It was getting better and better but extremely difficult, slippery.
“Congratulations to Nico. It is very tricky in these conditions, very easy to make a mistake, so as you said we were targeting for pole, but Nico was better than all of us today. But still it was very tricky and I am very happy with second.”
Championship Battle
The four cars immediately behind Nico Hulkenberg are locked in a tight struggle for the World Drivers Championship. If they finish in qualifying order Fernando Alonso would hold a one-point lead over Mark Webber, with Vettel 16 points back and Hamilton 22 points out—in other words, a three-way fight for the season’s last race at Abu Dhabi.
The start should be very interesting. One misstep could end a driver’s championship hopes, but over-caution could do the same.
