Nico Hülkenberg also failed to score points with his Audi in the third race of the new Formula 1 season. The only German driver in the F1 field only finished eleventh on Sunday in Japan, meaning the veteran missed out on the points by just one place. A disappointing result for the Emmerich native.
“We had a good pace and realistic chances of points, but our race was affected by a bad start,” said Nico Hülkenberg angrily on the “Sky” microphone after the race, which he had started in P13. “Better race starts are something we need to focus on as a team in the coming weeks.” Gabriel Bortoleto also made a mistake on the starting line.
While Hülkenberg fell from 13th to 19th, his teammate lost four places. “Our starts are not yet where they need to be. We still have a lot to learn and refine,” CEO Mattia Binotto also made clear. “Unfortunately, the main thing that affected us today was the start: we’ve known since the first race of the season that we have to work on it,” agreed Bortoleto.
Audi still optimistic: “The pace was encouraging”
Nevertheless, Hülkenberg managed to fight for the points until the final lap. In the duel with Haas driver Esteban Ocon for tenth place, the 38-year-old lost out. “It was frustrating,” emphasized the Audi driver, who finished a race in eleventh place for the second time this season: “I don’t know what else to say about it.”
But the team was by no means dissatisfied with the weekend in Japan. “We have shown that we can compete in the top ten. At the same time, there are clear areas in which we need to improve,” said Binotto hopefully, adding: “The pace of the car was encouraging.”
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Audi now has five weeks to make the car even faster and get the problems at the start under control. For Hülkenberg, however, it is still about understanding the new work tool better. “These cars are still quite difficult to drive at the moment. You can overtake, but then you immediately become vulnerable, so it’s a bit of a trade-off at the moment,” he explained.
