Nico Hülkenberg did not feel happy with the result of the Singapore Grand Prix, with the German finishing where he started in tenth position on Sunday evening under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The Renault Sport Formula One Team racer lost ground at the start and fell outside the top ten and then was one of the drivers to suffer for starting on the Hypersoft Pirelli tyre, with his pit stop leaving him towards the back of the grid and in the line behind Sergey Sirotkin and Sergio Pérez.
When Sirotkin and Pérez clashed, it gave the German the opportunity to jump two places in the running order, and with the pace he was able to show thereafter he was able to recover to the final points-paying position when both Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne made their pit stops.
Despite the point, the German felt the result could and should have been much better than it was, so he left the Marina Bay Street Circuit feeling disappointed, and now only three points ahead of Fernando Alonso in the battle for seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship with six races remaining.
“I’m not quite happy with the result, as I know it could have been better,” said Hülkenberg. “I lost two positions at the start and from there we were on the back foot, which was costly.
“We pitted early, going for an aggressive undercut and that initially played out well, but we were caught up in traffic after that. I benefitted from the collision in front of me to get into the points, but it could have been more today, so it’s mixed feelings for me in the end.”