Nico Hülkenberg hopes to achieve an even better result than last year at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, after finishing seventh in 2015.
The Sahara Force India F1 Team driver had a disappointing United States Grand Prix after a first lap incident with Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, with the former turning across him aggressively, with the German having nowhere to go as he was sandwiched between the Scuderia Ferrari driver and Williams Martini Racing‘s Bottas. The damage he sustained from this incident was too much to continue racing at the Circuit of the Americas, and Hülkenberg was forced to retire with suspension damage.
Last year in Mexico, the happiness and enthusiasm the fans created was incredible for Hülkenberg, he hopes for a similar experience in 2016.
“I am looking forward to going back to Mexico,” said Hülkenberg. “Last year the whole race week was a huge thrill and you could feel all the excitement from the Mexican people as Formula One was coming back after more than 20 years.
“The happiness and enthusiasm were incredible, and the vibe we could feel was great – I had goosebumps the first time I got to the track and saw all the fans. I hope this year we’ll have a similar experience: I know what we had in 2015 will be hard to match, but I trust the locals!”
Last year, the Silverstone-based outfit had a good result at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, with Hülkenberg finishing in seventh and team-mate Sergio Perez closely behind in eighth. The German is hopeful of Force India improving this result this weekend.
“The altitude makes our set-up choice interesting,” added Hülkenberg. “We have a high-downforce package on the car, but the thin air results in a downforce level similar to what we have in Monza.
“The car feels loose and very floaty, and massively quick in a straight line: last year we went over 360kph on the main straight. We had a good result last year and hopefully we can go even better this year.”
