In Barcelona, Nico Hulkenberg started in his best position of the season – seventh. However, the hopes of earning points did not materialize – due to the strong wear of the rubber, he finished only fifteenth. The Haas driver said the team has not yet been able to find the optimal balance between the speed of the car on one fast qualifying lap and the distance of the race, which is why there is such a big difference between Saturday’s and Sunday’s results.
Nico Hulkenberg: “The race was difficult. Unfortunately we had very high tire wear, so we had to make three pit stops, while most of the rivals stopped twice. At the same time, our pace was the same as theirs.
On the surface it looks like we are competitive on one lap, but there is still a lot to do to increase the pace in the long run.
Throughout the race I had very high tire wear. Immediately after the start, the tires started to “eat up” very quickly, so I started to roll back. We decided to make an early first pit stop, but nothing changed – the tires were very worn on Medium and even on Hard.
In terms of pace compared to the main rivals, it was good, but we were one pit stop behind. I couldn’t overtake them and move forward even with fresher tyres.
On one lap we have a good pace, but the distance of 66 laps showed that we need to find a solution. If we are behind, we have to do something to create opportunities. If I had saved the tires in the early laps and saved five seconds, it still wouldn’t have affected the final result.
I was not going to race relaxed. I was constantly attacking, I heard the squeaking of rubber, but I had to do it.
Of course I would prefer that we were more competitive in the races, but this year we have the characteristics of the machine. A better balance must be found between speed on Saturday and Sunday.
Now, after a successful qualifying, we have high expectations for the race, but then the team is depressed after the finish. It is not easy to deal with this and constantly explain the reasons, so you have to keep working for the long term.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
