Nico Hulkenberg had no complaints about Daniel Ricciardo being ushered through during his late charge at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Despite both starting on the medium tyre, it was the Australian in a stronger position to attack after switching to the soft compound and he did so, moving through to eventually claim sixth place.
Coming up behind his teammate though, Ricciardo knew it was imperative that he didn’t lose time if his strategy was to work.
“He had been in Stroll’s DRS for quite a few laps and I don’t normally like to call for things, but I said guys if he can’t pass, release me,” he explained.
“I said I am sure I can get them and after 2 laps they released me and then I reassured them, I said guys I am going to get them, so trust me you made the right decision, and we did.
“I thanked them afterwards. Clearly, in the end, it was the right call.”
Hulkenberg himself also admitted the switch was a no-brainer.
“He had a lot of pace in the car, so for the team’s sake, no question to do that,” he said.
“As you saw he went past everyone very easily, we were all kind of stuck behind Pierre Gasly, he was holding up the pack.
“He was massively fast on the straight that was the problem, the Honda doesn’t have much D-rate at times on the straights, so it’s hard to come by him, but in the corners he was holding everyone back.”
Traditionally, Suzuka hasn’t always been an easy circuit to pass on and with only one DRS zone, opportunities are limited as Ricciardo acknowledged.
“It is certainly tricky because I knew I had to be close towards the end of the lap,” he said.
“So you try and look after the tires in the first sector, especially if you are close to the other car because that is where you damage them a lot.
“But then it gives you a lot of work to do in the second sector, so just trying to find that balance that was not easy.
“It felt like once I got through one or two cars, I started to figure out the gap I needed. Then by Turn 11, the hairpin, I knew where I needed to be, and then I could push quite hard for the rest of the lap. It was fun.”
Also Read:
- Renault pair delighted by Suzuka charge after qualifying disaster
- Ricciardo confirms no chance of a Renault exit after 2019
- Hulkenberg’s F1 exit more likely as Alfa lean towards Giovinazzi
At this point, Ricciardo’s P6 and Hulkenberg’s P10 are still provisional results, as the FIA investigate a protest by Racing Point that Renault used an automatic brake bias system.
However, if cleared, the former Red Bull driver admitted it will be a much-needed boost.
“Certainly. I said this morning I was thinking ‘same kind of crap, we can’t get a break with issues and whatever’, but yeah, a few hours later I feel that we finally got a result that we deserve,” he said.
“Hopefully now we can get a string of results, we have back to backs coming up, some fun ones, so hopefully we get a strong of points finishes.
“I feel like we get there and then we drop, the heads drop a bit and we are trying to get back up. So just for everyone’s sake trying to keep some positive feeling before the year is out.”