Nico Hulkenberg says he was happy to score points in the Canadian Grand Prix but expected more from the race, feeling a top six result was possible.
The German driver made it through to Q3 and qualified in ninth place, with Force India opting to put him on a two-stop strategy.
He was not happy with the handling of his car during the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but took the chequered flag in eighth place, two spots ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez.
“I’m happy to score points, but at the same time I was hoping for a bit more from the race because I really believed we could challenge the top six,” he said.
“For some reason the car didn’t feel as good today as it did during practice and qualifying. Maybe it’s because the conditions were so cold and windy, which meant we lost the sweet spot and the car was not easy to drive.
“That’s something we need to look at in more detail and understand. At the start I didn’t get off the line very well, but I had a great first lap and recovered some positions.
“Then, the story of my race was simply tyre management. I think we made the right calls with the tyre strategy because even though we wanted to try and one stop it just wasn’t possible in the end.”
Commenting on his race, Perez said: “It was difficult and looking back I don’t think we chose the optimum strategy. We tried to go down a different route compared to everyone else, but the cooler track conditions didn’t help: it was very difficult to get heat into the soft tyres during the first stint and that cost me a few positions at the start.
“I got stuck behind the two McLarens and that hurt my race. I lost a few seconds at the final stop when I briefly stalled the car and that dropped me behind Kvyat, but I managed to get the position back with an overtake going into turn one.
“In any case, to bring both cars home inside the points is a good result for the team, especially when the weekend doesn’t really go your way.”
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