Racing Point has revealed feedback from Nico Hulkenberg influenced the swathe of upgrades the team has recently introduced.
The German, of course, stepped in for Sergio Perez both races at Silverstone earlier this year, this after the Mexican had tested positive for Covid-19.
And despite his pretty limited running, having failed to start the British Grand Prix before completing a full weekend at the 70th Anniversary GP, Hulkenberg was able to guide Racing Point on the development direction of the RP20.
“Some of the developments that we put on the car were as a direct result of his feedback in Silverstone. Which was really interesting. So his feedback after the race today was very intriguing,” technical director Andrew Green confirmed to Motorsport.com.
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“He mentioned things [at Silverstone] that he would like to be changed in the car, and how we go about setting the car up and the feel he gets from the car.
“And we made those changes after Silverstone not expecting him ever to get back in the car again and drive it. But lo and behold, he does, and we get the feedback about the developments we made on the car. So that was really interesting, and really important.”
Since Mugello, Racing Point has updated almost all areas of its controversial ‘Pink Mercedes’, meaning Hulkenberg had to readjust again from the car he drove at Silverstone.
But asked if Nico had felt the changes he put forward back in early August, Green confirmed: “Yes, effectively. [There’s] still work to do but I think we made a good step in the right direction.
“That is all part of the rear suspension and front suspension changes that we made, which were as a direct result of him driving the car in Silverstone.”
In addition to the upgrades, Racing Point also took on the same rear end as currently seen on the Mercedes back in Sochi.
This came amid concerns a loophole that allowed non-listed parts to be updates to 2020-spec without spending any tokens would be closed following criticism by rivals.
Ultimately it was not, to the frustration of other teams, but Green defended the practice.
“The rules allow us to do it. We’re going ahead and doing it, we’ve cleared it with the FIA, and they have no problem with us doing it,” said the Racing Point technical chief.
“It’s an upgrade to 2020 suspension, it’s not an upgrade to 2021. What we’re running now is 2019.
“What they [the other teams] want to do is penalize us and keep us running two-year-old parts rather than bring us up to date.
“But the rules as written allow the teams to bring their cars up to the 2020 specification, which I think is only fair,” he concluded.