Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed out of the US Grand Prix after contact with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. This year’s Le Mans 24 hours champion fell back from his fifth place on the starting grid, as he struggled for pace in the early stages of the race but was caught up in a scuffle with Ricciardo,which Hulkenberg shed light on after the race.
“It’s a huge frustration to be out of the race when things were looking so promising. Until the accident, it had been a very interesting race and it must have been a very entertaining for the fans as well. I struggled at first on the intermediate tyres, but as soon as I switched to slicks I started making good progress. We were looking really good and I wanted to get past Daniel(Ricciardo) as I was faster than him and he was holding me up, so I tried to make a move. Unfortunately that didn’t work and it was the end of my race. When I got back to the garage the team told me that there was an issue with the front wing – from contact earlier in the race – and it broke just when I was trying to make the move on Daniel.”
2015 has hardly been a vintage year in Formula One for the former GP2 Champion, in a season which has yet to yield a single top five finish, although the German appeared eager to move on to next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, inspite of a missed opportunity for himself.
“It’s a shame as we could have scored a lot of points today. These last two races haven’t been the best for me, but that’s how racing goes sometimes. At least I can get back in the car in just a few days and get the disappointmentout of the system, rather than having to wait for a long time. I look forward to the race in Mexico and it should be a really exciting week in a cool country that is always very welcoming to us.”
