F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 8y

Nico Hulkenberg: Fifth a nice surprise for Force India

Nico Hulkenberg called fifth on the grid a "nice surprise" after an impressive qualifying performance ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Force India has displayed good pace all weekend, with both drivers making the top ten in FP3 on Saturday morning. Hulkenberg built on that encouraging pace in Q3 by finishing fifth, two places ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, and admitted he did not think he would finish the session so high up the order.

When told he looked confident in the car, Hulkenberg replied: "Not just on that lap, but all weekend, ever since FP1, I've felt quite comfortable and happy inside the car. The car has performed good and we've managed to go with the track improvement, go with the track.

"My laps were pretty good - the final one was spot on so I'm pretty happy. It's a nice surprise. We were always, at least I was always, confident that we could make it inside the top ten, but fifth is a nice surprise."

Either side of Perez are Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat, meaning Force India and Toro Rosso occupy the fourth and fifth rows. Toro Rosso had showed impressive pace all weekend and Hulkenberg always expected the battle to be a close one.

"We were always pretty close with them, all weekend, and it was clear that, in quali, it would be touch-and- go, us in front of them or them in front of us, but luckily the better end for us."

Hulkenberg is still searching for a first F1 podium but, when asked if that was in mind going into Sunday, the German said making predictions in Monaco is a pointless exercise.

"To be honest, that's not on my mind at all because Monaco could be the most boring race, or it could be the most eventful race ever. There's some rain predicted overnight, so it could be a damp start - you never know here. We might have a good starting position here, but we still haven't won anything tomorrow. We've just got to do it all over again and do a good job."

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