The Incredible Hülkenberg

It?s the kind of magical weekend for a pilot. Since Friday, Nico Hulkenberg saw a perfect GP2 round. At the end of this, he leaves with the maximum points capital: 20 units, rewarding his pole, his two victories and his two best laps in the race. In front of his audience, the 2008 champion of Formula 3 Euro Series left its mark.

The GP2 “sprint race” begins this Sunday on the wet Nürburgring track. Uncertainty reigns over the conditions which will enliven the race and the choice of tires can prove decisive. Vitaly Petrov made the best start: the Russian, who started 5th, climbed into first position from the second corner. At the same time, Nico Hülkenberg, who started 8th, also moved up to 4th place. Faster than his opponents, the German climbed third on the third lap, then second on the next lap, with Petrov in his sights.

Far from there, Romain Grosjean also grabs. Starting 22nd, the Frenchman quickly came back, to reach, after seven laps, in eighth place, just outside the points (places 1 to 6). The turning point came on the 12th lap: Petrov was penalized with a pit stop for hanging on to di Grassi at the start. Starting 4th again, he offers the leadership position to Hülkenberg. The German, on a drying track, took the opportunity to stack lap records.

At the same time, Grosjean is fighting with d?Ambrosio for 6th place, Kobayashi and Parente doing the same for 2nd place. Grosjean manages to pass the Belgian then takes over Javier Villa to finish in a very honorable 5th place. Despite everything, the two points he collected were not enough to prevent Hülkenberg, who collected 7 points (victory and fastest lap in the race), from moving to the top of the championship. The rookie spoke, winning with more than 26 seconds ahead of Parente. From now on, the boss is Nico Hülkenberg.