Nico and Gabriel both completed good qualifying sessions, with Nico narrowly missing out on Q3 in P11 and Gabriel securing P13 after another encouraging performance at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Throughout the day, the team continued to make progress with the car balance and overall drivability, building on the work completed earlier in the weekend. With cooler temperatures and the possibility of rain for race day, the Canadian Grand Prix could present unpredictable conditions and open the door to opportunities as the team aims to convert its competitive pace into points.
Allan McNish, Racing Director: "Qualifying unfolded largely as expected, with both drivers completing goodsessions and the overall result reflecting our current level of competitiveness. While it is naturally frustrating to see Nico finish P11 once again, it also underlines how close we are to consistently fighting for Q3 positions. The margins remain extremely tight, and with continued development, we are confident we can make that next step more regularly. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the pace we demonstrated in the Sprint gives us encouragement for the race. The biggest unknown will be the weather conditions, with significantly cooler temperatures and the possibility of rain expected. As none of the teams have yet run these cars in wet conditions, it could create a very unpredictable scenario and add another strategic dimension to the race."
Nico Hulkenberg (Car 27):
Sprint: 15th
Fastest Lap: 1:16.297 (Lap 20)
Strategy: Start (Soft Used)
Q1: 1:14.562 (11 laps)
Q2: 11th/ 1:13.886 (10 laps)
"Coming up just short of Q3 once again is obviously frustrating, especially with margins this small, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with the session. I think we extracted everything that was there today. Around this track, with the low grip levels, you're constantly fighting the balance and hanging onto the car, so it wasn't easy out there.
"Looking at the bigger picture, it's been a decent result considering how the weekend started for us. The main topic has really been the drivability and power unit side, and this circuit exposes those areas quite a lot. Nevertheless, we managed to get the car into a much better window for qualifying and the balance felt reasonably good.
"There's still work to do, but tomorrow is another opportunity, especially if conditions change, and we'll aim to make the most of it."
Gabriel Bortoleto (Car 5):
Sprint: 12th
Fastest Lap: 1:15.980 (Lap 9)
Strategy: Start (Soft Used)
Q1: 1:14.775 (12 laps)
Q2: 13th / 1:14.071 (10 laps)
"Today hasn't been the cleanest qualifying – I would say I felt a little bit more comfortable in the car yesterday. Either way, I don't think we could have done much more than this with what we currently have. Nico did a very good lap, on the other hand, and I reckon that's where we are standing in terms of pace.
"Tomorrow could be an interesting one, especially looking at the weather forecast. I haven't driven this new generation of cars in the wet yet, so let's see what's going to happen. We're still struggling with the starts, as we saw earlier today in the Sprint, but if we manage to get that right, we could build something during the race."
