Japanese GP: Nico Hulkenberg says gearbox penalty his own fault
Nico Hulkenberg accepted the blame for the gearbox-change penalty he will get for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix
The Force India driver lost control of his car during the final practice session at Suzuka, damaging the front and forcing his team to replace the gearbox after making contact with the tyre wall.
The gearbox change means the German will lose five places on the grid after qualifying in 10th position.
"It was a bit of a tricky day, starting with my accident this morning. That wasn't in the schedule," said Hulkenberg. "We made the most of it and the mechanics did a fantastic job to turn the car around in the first place.
"We whizzed into Q3 and we have to pay the price now for this morning because we damaged the gearbox.
"I'm in the car, so I'm responsible for what happened. It wasn't a silly mistake, just a small lock-up and with the way that corner is, there was no way to recover it. The timing was pretty bad and now we have to deal with the situation as best as we can."
Hulkenberg decided not to post a time in Q3 in order to save tyres, and he will have a fresh set of soft rubber for the race.
"Given where we were, we didn't think we can get much further up than 10th so we decided not to run to save tyres and give us the flexibility of what to start on," he added.
"The target is always trying to get points. We're more in the back of the field, so we need to survive the first lap and I don't know where we will end up. Hopefully we can squeeze ourselves into the points."
Team-mate Paul di Resta was knocked out in Q2 and qualified in 12th position, but the Scot said he was pleased with his effort after missing all of Friday's second practice following his crash.
"There was a tenth in there. I came across [Romain] Grosjean at the Degner 2 and the hairpin and just lost a bit of downforce," di Resta said. "The car is very sensitive to the cars in front of it. I wouldn't say it was a mistake, but I just slightly locked an inside front wheel and didn't have the grip.
"Other than that, it was good and we both matched each other the rest of the way. Other than that, it was a shame not to make it into Q3. We can be quite happy with having a new set of tyres for tomorrow.
"Given the loss of track time yesterday, we should be grateful of where we qualified. It's nice to be in a position where we can challenge."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Archive: When the French GP almost produced F1's greatest shock
Autosport 70: How Scheckter instigated Silverstone's most famous F1 incident
Why Haas's shocking 2019 should have F1 worried
Hulkenberg: Japan F1 GP fightback was "half a miracle" for Haas
Hulkenberg: Alonso picked “wrong corner” to try defensive F1 games with Russell
How Perez's 2023 qualifying struggles led to an Autosport driver ratings U-turn
Norris' F1 China sprint pole lap down to "all or nothing" approach
F1 team-mates' qualifying battles: Chinese GP
2024 F1 Chinese GP sprint qualifying results: Norris takes pole
F1 Chinese GP: Norris takes sprint pole in chaotic dry-to-wet qualifying
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments