Hulkenberg overcomes balance issues to qualify in top ten

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Nico Hulkenberg is fast becoming a reliable pair of hands when it comes to making it through to Q3 and qualifying in the top ten.

However, he admitted it had been more of an uphill battle than usual at Sepang on Saturday, ahead of the final Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix.

"It’s been a struggle for us all weekend," Hulkenberg said. "We didn’t have the right balance and didn’t have the speed.

"We weren’t sure we were going to get into Q3 so I’m quite pleased with the results," he added. “I’m quite happy with today’s session."

Hulkenberg finished qualifying in eighth place. That puts him just behind Force India's Esteban Ocon and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne on the grid. They will be his first targets when the lights go out on Sunday.

"We’ll push for a little bit more tomorrow and look to get ahead of McLaren and Force India," he confirmed.

Hamilton on pole, Vettel at rear for Malaysia GP

Renault is just one of a number of teams struggling with balance issues at the Sepang International Circuit this weekend.

"We’ve been struggling a little more in Malaysia than the last few races," admitted Alan Permane, Renault's sporting director.

"The car balance isn’t where we want it to be this weekend," he noted. "Whilst we have made improvements, we aren’t entirely satisfied.

"Qualifying was a little frustrating today as we would have liked to have both cars in Q3.

"That said, the drivers were much happier on high fuel on Friday which gives us confidence for tomorrow’s race." He added that eighth was a good place for Hulkenberg to start.

"[Nico] is in a good position to score some decent points," he commented.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.