Nico Hulkenberg was disappointed with his tenth place finish after the Sahara Force India driver believed he could have been more competitive if he wasn’t held up in the early stages.
“I’m slightly disappointed with the outcome because I believed we would be more competitive here. We need to learn the lessons, understand where we can improve and come out much stronger in Singapore.”
It was a difficult Italian Grand Prix for the German after being held up throughout the race, Hulkenberg felt he could have achieved more especially with Force India battling with Williams Martini Racing for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“In the first stint, it wasn’t easy to overtake and I was stuck behind Fernando until the first pit stop. The second half of the race was actually quite lonely for me, but the damage was done by losing so much ground on lap one.”
Hulkenberg sits 16 points behind his team-mate in the Championship and he felt that the Mercedes power unit could have gone well in Monza but one point was all he could manage.
An eventful start to the race, left him on the back foot for the rest of the race, Hulkenberg had to battle his way through the field and score a solitary point.
“My initial start off the line was okay, but Max [Verstappen] in front of me really bogged down so I had to react and turn around him. That really hurt my traction and I lost all the drive going forward, which is why I lost a few positions. Later in the lap, I was side-by-side through turn four with Felipe [Massa] and was on the outside line for turn five.”
