Nico Hülkenberg feels his Renault Sport Formula One Team are struggling for performance this weekend at Silverstone thanks to the high-speed nature of the British circuit, with the strengths of the R.S.18 being at low-speed corners.
The Silverstone track is full of high-speed corners, which the German feels is making it difficult for the Enstone-based team to be competitive, but despite that he was happy enough to put the car eleventh on the grid and with a free choice of starting tyre.
High temperatures across the weekend have raised concerns about possible extreme degradation levels, and Hülkenberg says having a free reign of starting tyre could help the team move forward into the points on Sunday.
“I’m okay with P11 in the grand scheme of things,” said Hülkenberg. “It’s been a tricky weekend for us with the car so far as we haven’t been so competitive.
“The strength of our car is more in the low-speed corners and we lost out here with the flowing high-speed corners. Q3 was a tall order, but if you can’t be seventh you may as well be eleventh with a free tyre choice.
“P11 gives flexibility for strategy, which could be valuable and useful; we can still have a strong race here.”
