Force India duo not too disheartened despite missing Q3 - MotorSportsTalk

Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez are not too downbeat with their qualifying performances despite finishing in 11th and 12th in Spain today.

The team has made a remarkable start to the season, and currently lies third in the constructors’ championship ahead of Ferrari and McLaren. Perez produced a fine display in Bahrain to secure just the second podium finish in the history of the team, and Hulkenberg has scored points at every race so far.

Having performed so well this season, missing out on the top ten might seem like a poor result for the team, but both Hulkenberg and Perez said that they qualified around where they expected to.

“My lap was very good and I am pleased with the effort we put in during qualifying,” Hulkenberg explained. “We made some steps forward with handling and set-up compared to FP3 this morning, but we still ended up a little bit short of Q3.

“Considering that we haven’t been totally comfortable with the car for most of the weekend, P11 is a very good place to start the race and gives us an extra set of medium tires compared to the rest of the top ten.”

Perez explained how be bailed on his final flying lap because of traffic, but he is not too disappointed with 12th place given that the track is not suited to the VJM07 car.

“I think we finished qualifying more or less where we expected,” the Mexican said. “Maybe a place in Q3 was possible, but I did not manage to complete my final run in Q2 because my preparation lap was not ideal. There was too much traffic and my tires were not optimised, which is why I chose to abort my final quick lap and save the tires.

“Coming here we knew this track would be quite a difficult one for us, but we still believe we can be competitive tomorrow.”

The team will be hoping that its drivers can make up some positions during the race tomorrow to continue its point scoring streak in 2014. However, this might be easier said than done given the gains that McLaren and Lotus appear to have made.

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit