Alright when was that again.....?

Copy of my comment on the youtube channel:

"Great interview and he seems very much like he's a great down to earth guy. He can lap me anytime... that sounded almost wrong, didn't it?"
 
Super sub Nico Hulkenberg took in his third F1 qualification of the season in Germany earlier today, and despite ending up P20, here's why it was a very impressive performance from the German driver.

On paper, qualifying dead last in front of your home fans in a car capable of fighting for top six finishes doesn't sound like the makings of a strong performance, however for 33-year-old German driver Nico Hulkenberg the start of his Eifel Grand Prix weekend was yet another display of talent that really should be on show full time in Grand Prix racing.

Firstly, let's look at the facts. Hulkenberg managed to get out onto the Nurburgring Grand Prix Circuit for the first part of qualification and completed four tours of a track he last raced a Grand Prix car on in 2013. At the same time, teammate and regular season driver Sergio Perez lapped 1 second faster than the German in the same car, progressing through to Q2 and an eventual ninth on the grid. On paper, this was not exactly at the level of his heroic Silverstone efforts.

Now let us take a look at the circumstances behind the Germans return to Racing Point.

At the British Grand Prix Hulkenberg was confirmed at the team on the Thursday prior to Free Practice, leaving the German with a handful of hours sleep, a seat fit, a Covid test and out on track for opening practice. At the time, many commented on the impressive showing considering the last minute nature of the deal.

This weekend, unbelievably, the deal came together even later than in Great Britain, as the German explains:

“It was even wilder and crazier than last time,” he said. “I was in Cologne which is an hour from here. I was due to come here this afternoon anyway, I was going to do some TV stuff from RTL tomorrow. I was sat with a friend having a coffee at 11am when I see that Otmar rings me and says ‘Hulkenberg, hurry we need you here’.​

For someone who had no expectation and preparation, Hulkenberg had to drive to the circuit in his road car, take a Covid test, find some overalls and jump in the car for the first time in months, acquaint himself with an updated machine, and hit the track for just four laps in what many regard to be the tightest midfield battle in recent years. That's pretty tight timings even for a driver who's getting used to leaving driving duties to the last minute.

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It isn't even like Hulkenberg had the same machine underneath him as at Silverstone, as the British squad have put plenty of development into the RP20 since the last time they needed the services of the former Renault driver.

“It felt quite different again to Silverstone, obviously a completely different circuit, the car has moved on too, there’s a couple of technical bits that are very different and give the driver a very different sensation, so I had to adjust around that a bit and find my feet again.
“In four laps that’s not so easy. All in all, even though I’m last, I’m quite pleased with the laps we’ve produced right now.”

We all know that elite sportspeople need confidence and experience in order to get the best from themselves at the level Formula One drivers operate, and to come into an ultra competitive environment like this, with absolutely zero preparation time and only four laps on which to perform, I think it's fair to say that Nico Hulkenberg performed at a much higher and more impressive level than the raw timesheets suggest.

Sergio Perez is absolutely no slouch in the sister Racing Point, and to end up 'only' 1 second shy of his Mexican teammates time, with several obvious losses of time thanks to lock-ups and a scruffy final chicane on his timed laps, it is easy to see where much of that deficit was left out on the circuit.

Will his third outing result in another haul of points? From P20 with only four laps on the books that will be a tall order, but whatever the result, Nico Hulkenberg once again demonstrated why he deserves a drive on the Formula One grid, in my opinion at least.


Join the discussion! Check out the Eifel Grand Prix discussion thread ahead of the exciting return of the Nurburgring venue this Sunday. Click HERE.

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Cheers guys, Just to say here... I'm a bit of an Andy Priaulx fanboy as I've been a fan of his since the old Renault Spider days back in the 1990's (anyone remember those - sweet little series). To be able to have a chat about my passion with him was immense - the interview and off camera stuff actually lasted much, much longer than this, he was a really awesome guy to chat to - seriously impressed how happy he was to talk considering his massive profile, and the fact that basically nothing was in it for him apart from sharing his passion. What a lovely, lovely guy, and we still stay in touch over WhatsApp even now - legend.

They say never meet your heroes... well on this occasion I did, and it did not disappoint one bit.
 
I really don't understand why this guy is sitting on the sidelines this year. We have drivers like Grosjean doing nothing useful other than entertaining us with his "what will he do next?" style, while a quality driver like the Hulk has no drive. It's absurd. Ditch the rich kid and give Hulk his car. Hulk + Perez + car capable of best-of-the-rest = epic.

Really hope he shines tomorrow. :thumbsup:
 
Very intrigued about this bit:

there’s a couple of technical bits that are very different and give the driver a very different sensation, so I had to adjust around that a bit and find my feet again.

Wonder what they are that is so different from Silverstone to make the cars whole sensation feel different?
No doubt since Renault kicked off, they have gone up and RP down..
 
Don't get me wrong, but this guy is a super overrated driver, never managed to get a single podium when even Lance Stroll had one with a williams. Really, I don't get why people always try to say good thing about this guys when he clearly does not deserve it. With so many good options from F2, why not to give'em chances? Seriously, why a P20 with a pink mercedes can "impress" someone? I don't want to sound bad, but this is just my opinion...
 
I've sort of reversed course on the Hulk. When he was let go, I was of the opinion, eh, he's had his chances, let's get some fresh faces in there. But, here's the thing: I don't think modern F1 is all that keen on "fresh faces". We've definitely had some exciting young talent come in over the past few years but, on the other hand, you've still got a lot of your same-old seat fillers (Grosjean, etc). Put in that light, I guess I'd prefer to have Hulk back in the mix full time.

As an interesting side note, Autosport still has him as #1 in their driver ratings based on his part time work.
 
Qualifying was hours ago, you can't expect everyone to be put on hold for you can you?
If you are that concerned stay away till till you have watched it?
Where does it end?

Where does it end the end .....no spoilers in titles
Australia is a day behind :rolleyes: so wait it's okay as long as it doesn't affect you..... got it :thumbsup:

So all you do is agree they should leave spoilers ...thanks again :thumbsup:
 
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