A good basis for working with the R.S.17 according to Hülkenberg

Flagship recruit of Renault Sport F1 Team for 2017, Nico Hulkenberg was the first last Monday to ride on the track at the wheel of the RS17, meeting the new technical regulations.

A cautious start with 57 laps covered, which had already allowed the French brand's engineers to correct some small brake problems at the front. With the alternation set up by the structure at Losange with his teammate Jolyon Palmer, the former Force India driver will not exceed this accumulation of laps in one day in the RS17 during the following sessions, ending the week with 150 loops covered in track in Catalonia.

Despite this reduced running time compared to the headliners from Mercedes ou Ferrari, the winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015 estimates that the car French seems well born.

“So far the RS17 looks good, but we can still improve and next week will be dedicated to that, explains “Hülk”. We have a good starting point and a good base, we just need to move forward with more driving. »

Like his opponents this season, the German was able to discover the first specificities of driving the 2017 cars, benefiting from more aerodynamic downforce, and offering higher cornering speeds.

“The sensations on the track are very different with many new aspects to discover as we are only beginning our learning. The car is certainly faster than those meeting the old regulations. It's fun to ride. You really feel the extra support in the curves. »

The week ultimately remains encouraging for Renault Sport F1 Team, which has accumulated almost as many laps as Red Bull Racing, and who is now waiting to make further progress this Tuesday for the resumption of testing in Barcelona. The team should, however, make some modifications at the rear wing of his car, as requested by the FIA.

“We learned a lot during these first tests, indicated Cyril Abiteboul, director of Renault Sport Racing. It was gratifying for the team to have Nico behind the wheel for the first time. He and Jolyon gave us positive feedback on the RS17.

Our teams at enstone and Viry-Châtillon have worked incredibly hard to design the RS17 and this week has given us our first glimpse of its potential. Our engineers made solid progress over four days and we are confident that this will continue next week. »