Renault “best of the rest” thanks to Hülkenberg at Silverstone

For a team which had placed its cars in 11th and 16th place on the starting grid at Silverstone (Great Britain), collecting the points for sixth place is a happy outcome! This is the fate reserved for Renault in England, thanks in particular to Nico Hulkenberg.

The German, who started with medium tires (white sidewalls), had the good inspiration to be one of the rare drivers to opt for hard tires (blue sidewalls). “We had to manage the tires throughout the race. We chose hard tires, perhaps a little less efficient but which allowed us to only make one stop. », analyzed the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Sarthe) 2015 with Porsche.

Nico Hülkenberg scored the eight points for sixth place also due to the various collisions. “After getting off to a good start, the first lap allowed me to move up to sixth. It was a bit of chaos in turns 2 and 3 and I managed to squeeze through to gain places. This race was good from start to finish, especially gaining an extra position at the end, when the Red Bull (of Max Verstappen. Editor’s note) went into a spin. » “Hulk” goes back in front Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Fernando Alonso (McLaren) in the general classification, and finds himself seventh (42 points).

From P11 to P6 and now six-points finishes in a row at silverstone.. #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/t9UvLJD7r0

- Nico Hülkenberg (@HulkHulkenberg) July 8, 2018

Team Principal of the French team, Cyril Abiteboul found a smile again after a gloomy Austrian Grand Prix. “On a circuit that we knew was tricky for us, we managed to get ahead of our rivals thanks to an excellent start, a good strategy, perfectly executed stops and extraordinary driving from Nico. It’s a great reward, especially after our difficult qualifications. »

Unfortunately, the other side of the Renault garage looked gloomy on Sunday evening. Carlos Sainz Jr gave up after a clash with Romain Grosjean (Haas) in the last third of the race. “It’s a shame to end like this. I took the outside at Copse, but according to the cameras, Grosjean lost control of his car and hit me. These incidents can happen”, declared the Spaniard, who signed his first retirement in 2018.

“He had the possibility of gaining an additional place and it is very clear that he was much faster than the competitor he overtook, believes for his part Cyril Abiteboul. But it was a simple incident of racing that put an end to his performance. » The 3.5 Formula Renault 2014 winner had previously taken “one of the best starts of my career. Everyone started on soft tires, but I gained seven positions with the mediums. »

Renault thus takes a slight lead in the general Manufacturers' ranking. With 70 points, the Diamond brand is 4th, behind the untouchable trio Ferrari-Mercedes-Red Bull, and 19 points ahead of Haas. “This result should not distract us from our objective, which is to improve our pace on Saturday to give us better chances in the race,” concludes the Renault Sport Racing boss.

Discover the analysis of the British GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2173 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.