Nico Hülkenberg has no concerns about the competitiveness of the Renault Sport Formula One Team this weekend at the Hungaroring despite missing out on some significant track time in the morning session due to an Energy Store issue.
The German was forced to curtail his session after just fourteen laps when the car shut down on him, but he was still able to finish eighth fastest, and although he was down in fourteenth in the afternoon session, he was happy with the pace shown by the sister car of Carlos Sainz Jr., which gives him hope that Renault will be competitive this weekend in Hungary.
“We missed quite a lot of running today, which never helps the cause,” said Hülkenberg. “We were reasonable out of the box in the morning but the car just shut down with no warning.
“Once the Energy Store was changed I was able to get out in the afternoon, but obviously my programme was very different from that intended.
“On the plus side, we were still in the top ten at the end of FP1, so it wasn’t all bad. Looking at the other side of the garage there doesn’t look to be any major concerns so I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow.”
Nick Chester, the Technical Director, Chassis of Renault, says Hülkenberg can bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on track time on Friday, but felt overall it was a straightforward day for the Enstone-based team.
“Nico lost some track time with the Energy Store change, but aside from that it was reasonably straightforward for us,” said Chester. “Nico missed a lot of running today but was on the pace in FP1 and we know that’s something he can bounce back from very easily.”
