Renault endured a frustrating qualifying session for Sunday afternoon's Spanish Grand Prix with Nico Hülkenberg qualifying down in a disappointing thirteenth place.
Qualifying times were exceptionally close over the course of the session, with Nico's best Q2 lap just 0.150secs adrift of the time required for the top ten. This was after he set the seventh fastest time in FP3.
Today is the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix that the team has failed to reach Q3.
“The conditions in qualifying didn't play in our favour this afternoon,' Nico said. “It was very windy and together with the higher temperatures, it has had an impact on our aero performance.”
“We didn't change a great deal on the car from this morning as it was pretty decent, so the main difference from FP3 was the ambient conditions. I didn't feel as happy with the car as earlier today, but that said, I'm very happy with the laps I put in, especially the last one in Q2 which was pretty sweet, but that was it for today. We will put our heads down, push hard and aim for a good race tomorrow.”
