Nico Hulkenberg believes that the windy conditions and the characteristics of the Hungaroring affected the balance of the cars during qualifying. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after qualifying, the Audi driver felt that tenth place was the maximum they could achieve.
Hulkenberg was the only Audi driver to qualify inside the top 10, securing tenth place. His teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, qualified fourteenth. The German split the Racing Bulls drivers, with Arvid Lindblad qualifying ninth and Liam Lawson eleventh.
Several drivers complained about balance issues affecting their lap times, as windy conditions and changing temperatures proved to be significant variables throughout qualifying. Hulkenberg admitted that maintaining the right balance was particularly challenging at the Hungaroring because of the wind.
He explained that the circuit’s combination of low downforce and high-speed corners also made it difficult to find enough grip, adding to the challenge. The 38-year-old believes that, despite extracting everything from the car, tenth place was the best result possible, as they did not have the pace to challenge Arvid Lindblad.
Asked by Sportskeeda if balance issues affected his lap time as it did with other drivers, Nico Hulkenberg replied:
“Yeah, yeah, it’s been challenging. I think it’s just this generation of cars here with this kind of track, you know, less downforce, a lot of power, Windy conditions. It’s been pretty difficult, quite gusty out there, you know, grip is somewhat inconsistent. So it’s, yeah, it’s not been easy.”
Asked how much lap time was left on the table, he replied:
“It was clean, as clean as it can be. You know, I was gaining a little bit, sometimes entry or exit, but then, you know, vice versa, on the entry and exit again. So I feel, you know, I squeezed everything out of it. It wasn’t certainly not for a tenth on the table, if anything, maybe a few thousandths, but, yeah, we didn’t have the pace to challenge Arvid.”
Nico Hulkenberg believes qualifying in Hungary was bittersweet
Nico Hulkenberg had mixed feelings about his qualifying session ahead of the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix. On one hand, the German managed to keep one Racing Bulls driver behind him, but on the other, he was baffled by the pace of the other. Hulkenberg felt that beating Liam Lawson was a positive, but admitted that the gap to Arvid Lindblad was concerning.
Nevertheless, he remained optimistic, insisting that Audi had stronger race pace, which could allow them to improve their result on Sunday. Asked to describe his qualifying session, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“One eye laughing for that eye and the other one crying because of the gap to the Racing Bulls. Don’t know. I thought we would be much closer and that we could challenge them. Obviously, we beat one. But Arvid’s lap time in Q3 was pretty impressive, Q2 as well. So I don’t think we had that in the bag today, which, yeah, is a bit surprising maybe.”
Asked if there were any positives for Sunday with the race pace, he replied:
“Yeah, I think race pace is usually, you know, slightly favourable for us. Um… You know, we’ll find out tomorrow.”
Nico Hulkenberg is currently 19th in the Drivers’ Championship standings and is yet to score a point this season. His younger teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, has managed to score ten points for the team so far. Audi currently has ten points in total and sits ninth in the Constructors’ Championship standings, ahead of Cadillac and Aston Martin.
While this is Audi’s maiden year as a factory outfit, it is also their first season as an engine manufacturer. Compared to fellow newcomers such as Aston Martin and Cadillac, the German automaker has performed better than expected in its debut campaign.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli