Nico Hulkenberg finished the eighth round of the 2016 Formula 1 season at the Baku City Circuit in ninth.
The Sahara Force India driver had a disappointing start after being hit from behind by the Haas F1 of Esteban Gutierrez into Turn 1. This incident compromised his European Grand Prix after losing a few positions. His race went from bad to worse when he started to struggle with oversteer.
Even though the German didn’t bring home as many points as he would have liked for the Silverstone-based outfit. He is pleased for team-mate Sergio Perez and his podium finish, with both drivers bringing home points, it’s a massive boost for their season.
“It was a fairly tough race for me,” said Hulkenberg. “The start was ok, but coming into turn one someone [Gutierrez] hit me from behind.
“I lost a couple of positions trying to control the car and that put me a bit on the back foot. Getting through traffic in the opening stages was not very easy and it cost me a lot of time. Then, for the early part of the race, I was struggling with oversteer and in general I couldn’t find the same harmony with the car that I had in practice.
“Making the supersoft tyres last as long as I did – 31 laps – was not easy and by the end of the race I had very little left, but it was a risk I was happy to take to make our strategy work.
“The car had great potential all weekend long, but I feel I paid for the mistake I made yesterday in qualifying. However, I am pleased for the team’s result: it means we bring home a bunch of points which is a boost for our season.”
