Nico Hülkenberg expects some improvement from the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team in 2017, but remains realistic that the team will not be a top six contender straight out of the box.
The German will switch over to the Enstone-based team from the Sahara Force India F1 Team next season, and feels he will benefit from Renault’s focus being primarily on their 2017 machine rather than the RS16 that saw the team finish in the points on only three occasions.
Hülkenberg knows the team will take time to build an infrastructure to be a top running team, but has belief that the team can come good at some point next season.
“I think next year is still a build-up year. We have to be realistic,” said Hülkenberg on motorsport.com. “This year they come from a pretty difficult year, and obviously when they bought the team last year they were in a very tricky situation, especially at the beginning of the season.
“They didn’t do much in terms of development of this car, so I hope next year is a little bit better already. But I don’t expect to be there in the top six straight away, even top 10 is going to be challenging.
“These things take long – to build an infrastructure back up and get good people back on board and develop the car.”
