Hulkenberg earns four points from Canadian GP

Nico Hulkenberg at the Canadian GP

Montreal, June 8 (IANS) Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg finished eighth to bring in four points for Force India from the Canadian Grand Prix held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve here.

Though both cars started within the top-10, only the German managed to get into points as teammate Sergio Perez finished 11th and out of points at the 4.3 km street circuit.

Both the cars were on a one-stop strategy in the 70-lap race but Hulkenberg made his pit-stop on lap 28 in comparison to his teammate's stop on Lap 24.

"I am very happy to come away from here with four points - that's definitely some positive news. It was not the most eventful race and I was by myself most of the time, except for the battle with Sebastian (Vettel). In hindsight I probably shouldn't have tried so hard to defend against Seb, but when you're a racer you just don't want to give up a position without a fight," said Hulkenberg, who started in seventh position, on Sunday.

"Overall it's been a positive weekend. We keep finding good performance from our VJM08 and the team is pushing hard to find more speed. We've had a good run in the last few races, with Checo scoring in Monaco and my points today. It means we are making good progress and we're closing in on fifth in the championship, so the second half of the season should be very interesting."

Mexican Perez said it was a tough outing and rued his non-points finish.

"It was a tough race and I just didn't have enough pace to finish in the points. In the first stint I was suffering with a lot of understeer and couldn't really attack the cars ahead of me. The main battle was against the Red Bulls and I managed to get ahead of Ricciardo, but it was hard to match the pace of Kvyat. Towards the end of the race I had to save the tyres, the brakes and fuel, so I just had to make sure I brought the car home," said Perez.

Hulkenberg is now 12th in the drivers' standings with 10 points, a spot behind Perez who is on 11 points. In the constructors' championship, Force India are seventh with 21 points.