Nico Hulkenberg claims he gained confidence from the Spanish Grand Prix
F1 News
Renault failed to score points in the Spanish Grand Prix, but Nico Hulkenberg claims the race gave him a confidence boost. The German did start from the pitlane and battled his way to 13th place.
"It was always going to be tricky today starting from the Pit Lane. It wasn’t a great race as we didn’t score any points, but it was nice to have a normal race and grow the confidence back up. Especially after a tough weekend, that’s a positive," he said in his race debrief.
Hulkenberg's biggest positive was his tyre management. Renault didn't opt to pit him during the safety car, but he managed to hold off drivers who were running fresher tyres.
“I couldn’t quite fight for points, in the end, we had 10-lap old Softs running against others who had pitted for fresh tyres after the Safety Car. I felt good and comfortable out there, which is promising heading into Monaco. I’m back in the R.S.19 on Tuesday, so we’ll be aiming for a productive day’s running," Hulkenberg added.
Renault's battle to regain the 'best of the rest' crown is going to be hard. They currently sit 8th after five races with Alfa Romeo, Haas, Racing Point and McLaren to navigate through.