Nico Hülkenberg was ‘pleasantly surprised’ with his sixth place finish in the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team seemingly being the fourth fastest team on the day.
The German started seventh and enjoyed an early battle with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon that he came out on top of, and thereafter he was relatively lonely, save for the moment when Kimi Raikkonen came back through after his stop and go penalty.
The result at Spa-Francorchamps has given him some confidence going forward, and he is looking to continue the momentum into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
“It was a solid day; I’m happy and pleasantly surprised,” said Hülkenberg. “I had a poor start but was able to rectify it at the first corner with a move down the inside to have a great run on Checo through Eau Rouge.
“The car felt better than yesterday and we were the fourth quickest team out there again which allowed us to finish in the top six. I had some great fighting with Fernando. It was pretty hairy getting three abreast with him and Esteban.
“Fernando was making a move with DRS and a big tow, then Esteban had a massive overshoot so for a moment I thought ‘oh gosh, it’s not going to end well,’ but fortunately it was great racing and I’m sure great to watch from the outside.
“I’ve definitely got good confidence heading to Monza.”
