Nico Hulkenberg hailed the new 2017 cars as the reason for what he considers his “best” year in Formula 1 as the German led the charge for an improving Renault works team.
Hulkenberg would be particularly strong in qualifying throughout the year, however, the race results were a little more patchy until upgrades during the European season allowed the French manufacturer to challenge at the front of the midfield with a controversial sixth place at the season finale in Abu Dhabi securing Renault sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
“In terms of driving it was my best season so far,” the 30-year-old told Auto Bild. “The faster cars are more suited to me, I can drive at the limit and that’s also more fun. The tyres have become much better. Everything went in the right direction.”
More often than not, Hulkenberg was over a second faster than initial teammate Jolyon Palmer, with the Briton’s disappointing results seeing him replaced by Carlos Sainz from the US Grand Prix as part of a loan deal until the end of next year.
“It was completely clear that Carlos would be closer,” he claimed. “He is talented and fast, we are only at the beginning of our team relationship, but Carlos is important for the development of the team.”
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Continuing that progress is the goal for 2018 and Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul knows exactly where his team must improve.
“Reliability will come first,” he is quoted by Spain’s Marca. “I think we were too aggressive on many occasions in the way that we tried to provide extra performance too quickly due to expectations.
“We have to go step by step, first by being reliable and accumulating as many kilometres as possible during the winter tests. I think if we have reliability, I am extremely comfortable and confident that we can beat Mercedes [engines],” he added.
