Despite the short nature of the Red Bull Ring, Nico Hülkenberg knows it is still a challenging and technical track, with some corners that are tricky to get right, and he knows to get a good lap time, he will need to be as precise as possible.
The Renault Sport Formula 1 Team racer has fond memories of his qualifying performance in Austria back in 2016 whilst racing for the Sahara Force India F1 Team, qualifying as he did on the front row, but the German did not have the same kind of luck on race day, ending up retiring with brake issues.
“It’s a short track with not too many corners,” said the German. “It’s important not to get a false impression as it’s still very challenging and technical. It has a lot of elevation – up and down – and some tricky corners to match.
“On paper, it looks easy but actually to get a good lap time it isn’t so simple. It’s about balance, there are some medium speed corners so it will be important to find that and get a decent lap time.
“Last year was fantastic to be on the front row – I managed to string a good lap together in Q3. It was just a shame not to follow that up in the race!”
Hülkenberg admitted that it was his mistake that cost him a shot at points during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when he clipped the inside wall at turn seven and breaking his suspension, but he is looking for redemption this weekend in Austria.
“It was a difficult weekend,” admitted Hülkenberg. “It was a crazy race; one of those you get every five years. During the red flag we were sixth, things were going well and we were making up places with people crashing, I was just trying to stay alive and out of trouble.
“Unfortunately, lap two after the red flag, I misjudged the turning into turn seven and hit the inside wall and broke the steering arm. That was the end of my race which was disappointing, we surely would have had a couple of points.
“That is racing, however, and we will regroup and go again in Austria.”
