Nico Hülkenberg says his Renault F1 Team need to strive to be better and build on improvements made at Silverstone as they head to Hockenheim and the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Renault scored with both cars last time out in Britain, with Hülkenberg finishing tenth, three places behind his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Now, the German heads to his home race eager to improve on his current eleventh in the drivers’ standings.
“It was a decent team result with both Daniel and I in the points,” said Hülkenberg. “However, we always strive for better and for more and maybe we left something on the table.
“It was a difficult race on my side with a number of things going on, so to still finish tenth was strong. We found some improvements there, which we need to build on heading into this back-to-back fortnight with Germany and Hungary.”
Last season Hülkenberg finished his home race a fine fifth and says that extra motivation comes from the ever-enthusiastic home crowd.
“It’s very special racing in your home country,” says Hülkenberg. “It’s always motivating to do well in front of your home fans as you know they are cheering for you and wanting you to have a strong result.
“We had a really good race in Germany last year, so we’ll be targeting the same again this season, not only for the fans, but also for the team as well.”
Hockenheim comes under scrutiny each year for being a shadow of its former self; the old track was much longer and faster than the current layout. But Hülkenberg believes the new layout compliments modern Formula 1 machinery.
“It’s a really fun circuit to drive, especially in a modern Formula 1 car with all the downforce. Some of the corners are very quick nowadays especially Turn 1.
“Turn 2 is very important as you need a high minimum speed to open up some momentum for the on-going curve to the hairpin. That’s the best overtaking spot during the race.
“You need good traction out of the hairpin for the middle part of sector two. The final sector is quite cool with grandstands on all sides and the atmosphere is always loud there. It’s the most technical part of the lap as it’s quite narrow and a great vantage spot for fans.”
Hülkenberg has a decent track record at home; in his six appearances at Hockenheim he’s scored points in the last five. Points this weekend would be just his fifth points-scoring race of the season as Renault take on the battle with customers McLaren for fourth in the constructors’ championship.
