Nico Hulkenberg is ready to take risks in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix after finding a renewed level of confidence in his Haas.
Hulkenberg produced a superb performance in second practice ahead of the race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, finishing third quickest, just 0.270s behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin sandwiching the duo.
The veteran German driver is realistic enough to appreciate he is unlikely to replicate such a display in qualifying but does at least feel “at home” in his VF-23 around this circuit where he knows he can deliver over one lap.
“It (the car) obviously felt decent, especially that lap,” said Hulkenberg. “New soft (tyres) give you a lot of grip over one lap, so I’m satisfied with how it went in P2 and hopefully we can keep it up for the next two days.
“I had a good rhythm. I felt at home in the car, like I was in the driving seat, which is good and important, especially around here.”
Hulkenberg naturally recognises that finding such a rhythm, in particular in a field in which the top 17 cars were covered by a second in FP2, is “a very important key” if he is to conjure his best qualifying performance of the season.
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With a high of 10th in Bahrain and Australia, Hulkenberg added: “That’s when you, as a driver, can commit more, you can take slightly more risks, you have more confidence to send it in quali when you look for the last hundredths (of a second). That’s just when that helps.
“But I think naturally also here the car is just in a much happier place, and immediately it gives me a better feeling compared to a week ago in Monaco.”
Hulkenberg is fully expecting “a lot of top cars” to have found something overnight after underperforming in practice.
Knowing he has to “stay cool and realistic”, the 35-year-old added: “You see in the midfield there are still four or five teams and we’re all battling for the same piece of Tarmac, so it’s going to be a tough, tight fight again.”
The final sector will also now prove crucial following its reprofiling which has seen it return to a former configuration as the chicane has been removed.
Now a fast, right-handed sweep which Mercedes’ George Russell claimed made it ‘one of the best corners in F1‘, Hulkenberg also appreciated the fact the final sector is “mighty quick”, albeit with “a bump on the entry which spices things up a little bit”.
“It’s not a safety thing, but you go into a super-fast last corner – and at this track there are no bumps – but then there’s one right there,” said Hulkenberg. “It’s just funny somehow.”
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