Hulkenberg lost upgrade after qualifying crash

Nico Hulkenberg was only enjoying his new spec front wing for a matter of minutes before he crashed over the gravel and into the barrier during Q1 of the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, costing him the upgrade.

Renault’s rotten luck continued at the Circuit de Catalunya as the German lost control at Turn Four and was forced wide, with initial damage appearing minimal.

He managed to limp the car back to the station and get it fixed for another go at qualifying into Q2, but the older spec front wing let him down as he was eventually eliminated.

Hulkenberg limping back to the pits #F1 #SpanishGP 🏎🇪🇸💥 pic.twitter.com/oqH3Zufolx

— Marc T (@F1Tricky) May 11, 2019

Hulkenberg admits to his mistake, and thinks he would have made it into Q2 no problem if the incident never occurred.

"I could have definitely got it into Q2," he admitted after he was knocked out.

"It was not great obviously going off in the first run and I lost the new spec front wing as well so for the second run we had to revert back and the car felt quite different and I felt quite a loss of downforce so that definitely cost a bit of performance.

"I think otherwise, we would've made it into Q2 but there you go. You make mistakes you pay for it."

The Renault man will start the GP on Sunday from 16th on the grid after his qualifying misery.

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