Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Hulkenberg primed for defensive battle in Brazil

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Nico Hulkenberg says it would be “awesome” to hold on to fifth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix but is primed for a defensive battle at Interlagos.

The Force India driver impressively qualified sixth on Saturday and moves up a position on the grid as a result of Valtteri Bottas’ grid penalty for a red flag infringement on Friday. Starting from the third row, Hulkenberg admits he is unlikely to be able to match the cars ahead of him for pace but believes some strong defensive driving could allow him to hold off those behind.

“Well I would like to think and I hope we can defend this position and bring it home, that would be awesome,” Hulkenberg said. “If you look it is only the two Mercedes and Ferraris in front of us and these cars are hard to beat. So I hope that we can defend our position but it won’t be easy because Valtteri [Bottas] will start straight behind me and we know the Williams is quite quick here too. So it’s going to be entertaining and lots to do.”

Having yet to score a podium in his Formula One career, Hulkenberg says he is not setting himself such a target in the race

“I think you just focus on the current situation and if you have a good car, a good feeling and confidence then you just try to push as hard as you can and get the maximum out of it, not really thinking about anything.”

#PlacesAlonsoWouldRatherBe

REPORT: Rosberg takes fifth pole in a row by 0.078s

AS IT HAPPENED: Brazilian Grand Prix - qualifying

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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.