Hulkenberg "frustrated" with car issues
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was left frustrated despite finishing seventh in the Italian grand Prix, having not being able to extract the pace which he knows is possible from the car.
The German driver started ninth after his final qualifying run was compromised due to fuel leak.
Midway through the race, the Force India driver urged his team to switch to a two-stopper fearing losing performance due to tyre degradation, but the team decided against doing it.
"The second half of the race was quite difficult defending against [Marcus] Ericsson and that’s when we were considering changing to a two-stop strategy because I was struggling so much with the tyres," said Hulkenberg after the race.
Hulkenberg finished seventh, bringing home some "useful points" but asked his team to investigate the cropping issues.
"I think we had a problem with the car and it’s something we need to investigate because I was losing downforce, the car was sliding and the rear tyres were heating up too much, all of which really hurt my pace."
Strong race
Sergio Perez, on the other hand, had a better day finishing sixth. He couldn't fight for fifth with Kimi Raikkonen but says, it wasn't possible as the Ferrari was much quicker.
"I had very strong pace from the beginning to the end; I managed the tyre degradation well," said the Mexican after the race.
"After my pit stop, I knew Kimi [Raikkonen] was closing in behind me, he was really quick and there was nothing I could do to keep him behind any longer than I did.
"I am very pleased with our performance over the whole weekend," he added.
The Silverstone-based team moved back to fifth, 13 points clear of Lotus in the last race of the European leg.
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