Hulkenberg: Some teams can go faster

Nico Hulkenberg, who recorded the seventh fastest time in the second training session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, urged not to draw hasty conclusions from this result. The Haas driver is confident that some rivals will continue to hide the potential of their cars.

His teammate Kevin Magnussen set the fourteenth fastest time and said he was pleased with the pace over a long series of laps.

Nico Hulkenberg (7th): “Quite a good Thursday, but since these are the first training sessions of the year, there is not much to discuss yet. In the morning we focused on working on long lap sets and race pace, trying out a few ideas. In the second session we worked on a more standard program.

The pace for one lap was a bit unexpected, but still there is no reason for us to be too enthusiastic or ambitious. I guess some teams weren’t running with empty tanks, so they could possibly go faster.

I expect a very exciting battle in qualifying. That’s how it was last year and I expect it to remain that way this season; a small mistake will cost you dearly. I don’t know yet what positions we are in, but tomorrow we will try to show what we are capable of.”

Kevin Magnussen (14th): “I think we had a productive day, although we still don’t know how much fuel the others were working with. Our team focused on the race pace, which turned out to be quite high. I am encouraged by this.

If we talk about speed on an empty tank, we still have a lot to learn, since we have only driven a short distance so far. The second training was the first full session where we worked at a short distance. It seems to me that we are moving in the right direction in terms of tire wear.

I am interested to know what the real speed of our car is under racing conditions, but the degradation of the rubber has decreased compared to last year.”