• German Grand Prix - Qualifying

Force India seeking strong points

Nico Hulkenberg qualified fifth but will start fourth alongside Michael Schumacher © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Alonso secures pole at wet Hockenheim
  

• Race:
• German Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Nico Hülkenberg

• Teams:
• Racing Point

Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta are both eyeing strong points finishes after qualifying in the top ten for the German Grand Prix.

With the wet conditions seeing the likes of Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Nico Rosberg dropping out in Q2, both Force India's made it through to Q3 and could be competitive as track conditions constantly changed. Hulkenberg qualified in fifth place and will start fourth after Mark Webber's grid penalty, and he said he was hoping to finish as close to his starting position as possible.

"I feel very excited because it's always special to qualify well, especially at your home race," Hulkenberg said. "It was a session that had a bit of everything because we ran on slicks, intermediates and wets. I think the most tricky conditions came during Q3 when I even aquaplaned off the track during my out lap and went into the gravel. Fortunately I was lucky and able to continue, but there was very little grip on the track. When you start high up you naturally want to finish high up as well and I hope we can have strong race. It will probably be dry tomorrow and there are a lot of quick cars behind us so we will need to think carefully to make the strategy work.

"We need to make sure we do a good strategy tomorrow; a good start, good first lap and then things can be on our side and points in there for sure. [A podium] is a dream, let's wait and see if that comes true but still only a dream."

Di Resta felt that he could have qualified higher up than ninth but hopes to be able to attack during the race.

"It was a very difficult session and the rain didn't make life easy for anybody because there was so much aquaplaning on the back straight with two or three big puddles," he said. "Towards the end of Q3 I was getting ready for my final run but the traffic didn't really work out for me and I struggled to get the lap when it really counted. Still, we made it into the top ten so I'm happy, but you always want to be a bit further up the grid. We think it will be dry tomorrow so it was important to get lots of running during final practice this morning to build up a feel for the car in the dry. We are definitely in a good position to score points tomorrow and I'm ready to fight and move forward in the race."

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