A “small mistake” which is costly for Hülkenberg

The pilot Renault veered wide beyond the curb on the last climb of Juncao, lost control of his RS18 and crashed against the safety barrier, without gravity for him. The same could not be said of his car, Hulkenberg being forced to watch the rest of the session from the Losange garage, with only six laps on the clock in FP2.

« I took the exit of the last turn a little too wide, the former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I took a little too much vibrator, maybe I was greedy. The car tailgated and from that moment on, I found myself a passenger. 

As soon as I bottomed out, I found myself propelled onto the grass where there was no grip. The accident was inevitable and I knew I was going to hit the wall. Everything happened very quickly, it was a small mistake but with a lot of damage. Not really ideal for an afternoon of work ». 

Despite the lost running time, Hülkenberg refutes any negative impact on the rest of the events at Interlagos, where he signed his only career pole position in 2010 with Williams.  

« It's not great to miss the long relay program and the preparation for the qualifying laps but I'm sure it won't penalize me for the rest of the weekend, he added. It's the end of the season so I know the car like the back of my hand ». 

After two convincing weekends in the United States and Mexico, the yellow and black cars seemed to fall into line in Brazil by failing to climb into the Top 10 during this opening day.