Nico Hülkenberg landed in the points for the first time since GP Germany. But the night race in Singapore was tougher than expected for the Renault driver. Hülkenberg tells us why.
Was Sirotkin your problem in the race?
Hülkenberg : Even if I had come out before Sirotkin, it would not have looked much better. Due to my early pit stop I had tomanage tires without end. If I had blown off with the Ultrasoft tires, I would have run out of breath. I drove at the end right front on the rim.
Could not you have delayed the pit stop?
Hülkenberg : Yes, we would. Grosjean fell back relatively early. The team has seen the chance of undercuts and brought me back. What worked well. So I was past Grosjean. Unfortunately, the Williams was ahead of us. But even after my stop, when I had free rein, the riders, who like Sainz had started with the Ultrasoft tires, drove one second faster despite the older tires . They could accelerate with the tires ., I still had 40 laps in front of my chest. Since I had to divide the grains. The early stop and start on Hypersoft tires were not ideal today. If you start from 10th place and have a bad start, it will be difficult.
You have seen how Perez worked on Sirotkin. Why was it so difficult to crack the Williams ?
Hülkenberg : For me it was very fast. Checo did a good job. I have to thank him for that. It is so brutally difficult to overtake with these cars, so brutally tight. If you drive down to turn 7, it will be enough for the front man to stay in the middle of the road. He’s forcing you on the d#rty line, all the snippets of tires. You have zero grip when you brake. That’s real, really hard.
How is your overall impression?
Hülkenberg : Okay, but nothing world-moving. Fernando was incredibly fast in the race. I could not exhaust the potential of the car. We are all very close to each other in midfield, but that was a track that actually spoke for us. The next ones will probably be difficult.