Pre Race
Ready to race again!
Tired of waiting? We are too! But no worries – it’s race weekend again, and Nico Hulkenberg and the rest of the Formula 1 field are ready to go racing once more. This time, it’s at Imola, marking the first of the season’s races on European soil. A fresh opportunity for the Stake F1 KICK Sauber Team to push forward!
“I really like Imola. It’s fast, tight, and challenging, and I’m happy that the European season is kicking off with another demanding triple-header. We’ve shown glimpses of good pace this season, and now it’s about building consistency throughout the weekend,” says Nico Hulkenberg.
The weekend’s first two practice sessions were completed on Friday, with the two Sauber drivers showing promising pace. Hulkenberg and Bertolotto finished 10th and 9th respectively in FP1, while FP2 was cut short by a red flag.
“It’s been a solid Friday for me. The car’s balance feels reasonably good, but there’s still room to improve in terms of overall pace. We’ll be going through today’s data to see where we can fine-tune the set-up – which is especially important on a compact and technical circuit like Imola,” the German adds.
FP3 and Qualifying take place on Saturday, while the 63-lap Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at 15:00 (GMT +2) local time.
Want to follow live? Watch every session on the official Formula 1 App 📱 🤙
Three Facts About Imola:
- This year’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix will be Sauber’s 600th Formula 1 race. Congratulations, team!
- The 4.9 km Imola circuit is also known as the Autodromo Dino Ferrari – named in 1957 after Enzo Ferrari’s son, Alfredo ‘Dino’ Ferrari, who passed away the year before.
- The circuit is forever linked to the tragic death of Ayrton Senna in 1994. Following the incident, the track underwent major safety upgrades – just as Formula 1 has made safety a top priority ever since.
Qualifying
All to play for at Imola.
A challenging qualifying day for Nico Hulkenberg, who will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 17th after narrowly missing out on Q2 by just 0.178 seconds due to a small mistake. It’s definitely not the ideal starting position on a narrow track like Imola – but the Admin By Request ambassador remains optimistic ahead of Sunday’s race.
“I didn’t find the right rhythm or connection to the car on Friday and Saturday, which is crucial here at Imola. This old-school track is fun, but it’s also incredibly fast and very unforgiving. All things considered, my final lap was actually pretty good until the last sector, where the car snapped in Turn 17 and I ran slightly wide,” said Nico Hulkenberg.
“We’ll need a bit of luck in tomorrow’s race, because overtaking opportunities are rare on a tight circuit like Imola. We’ll look for any and every chance to maximise our potential, staying mindful of how unpredictable this race can be.”
Let’s go, Nico! 63-lap Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at 15:00 (GMT +2) local time.
Race Day
“One of the better races”
Close but no cigar for Nico Hulkenberg, who was on his way to scoring points in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, but unfortunately the race was interrupted by a safety car towards the end, forcing him to settle for 12th place. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the German and his green Sauber were more competitive in Italy compared to previous weekends.
“This was one of the better races for me this year. I had a better feeling in the car today compared to Friday and Saturday. In the race, we were lucky with the timing of the virtual safety car, which put us in a position to fight for points. Unfortunately, the safety car towards the end of the race didn’t help us. At the restart, I was surrounded by faster cars and couldn’t keep Yuki (Tsunoda) or Fernando (Alonso), who were on fresher tyres, behind me. In the end, everything combined to prevent us from scoring points,” said Nico Hulkenberg.
“On pure pace, we still have some catching up to do, but the margins are so tight that small improvements can make a big difference,” the German added.
Those are promising words from the Admin By Request ambassador! Next up is the legendary Monaco Grand Prix – and it’s already later this week. Stay tuned! 🤩
