Formula 1India In F1
Rain, wind or cold: Credit to the fans for staying around, says Hulkenberg after Q1 was put off to Sunday morning
Austin, 24 October 2015: Constant rain at the Circuit of the Americas forced the postponement of qualifying until Sunday morning. The only running of the day was during final practice this morning where Nico Hulkenberg ended the session with the third fastest time and Sergio Perez was eleventh fastest.
Nico Hülkenberg
VJM08-03
Nico: “It’s been a long day of waiting around to see if the weather would improve. You have to feel for the fans and give them credit for staying around until qualifying was eventually called off. They sat out there in the rain, the wind and the cold, and it’s great to see their enthusiasm and passion. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I’ve done qualifying on a Sunday before a few years ago. It may still be raining in the morning, but we looked quite competitive on the wet tyres so I feel ready whatever the weather gives us tomorrow.”
Sergio Perez VJM08-02
Sergio: “It was a shame that in the end we couldn’t do any runs this afternoon as there were a lot of fans that had turned up despite the wet weather. Considering the limited running, we have a good amount of data from FP3 that we can analyse tonight to prepare for qualifying and the race. We have seen in the past that weekends like these can produce a lot of surprises so we have to be ready to take our opportunities. I am optimistic that we can have a good day tomorrow.”
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
“It’s always difficult to comment on a day in which the weather plays such a big role. There were some very positive indications from this morning: both Nico and Sergio showed good pace in the final practice session and, in those difficult conditions, we were towards the top of the timesheets. On a different note, I would like to congratulate the spirit and perseverance of the thousands of fans who braved the elements and were ultimately disappointed by the lack of running. We are sure the show tomorrow with the busy schedule of qualifying and the race will reward their passion.”
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