Nico Hulkenberg competes in his home Grand Prix this weekend. After yesterday’s practice session, he is certain that there is “more to come” from his Renault team this weekend as they look “maximise” the chassis upgrade.
Due to a clever tyre strategy at Silverstone, Renault managed to beat their mid-field rivals to finish 6th and claim the best of the rest spot. But the team know if they are going to retain this, they’re going to have to bring more downforce to circuits.
“It’s mainly been a case of refining the set-up today [Friday], and we made progress,” Hulkenberg told the media.
“[There’s] more to come after we’ve looked at the figures. We’re looking at how to maximise the new front wing, as obviously every bit of pace and balance helps. The car didn’t feel too bad out of the box. [But] you could really tell that the tyres were suffering with those very hot conditions.”
The good news for the German is that cooler temperatures are forecast for today. They don't want a repeat of Austria where Carlos Sainz labelled the Renault as undriveable for the majority of the race.
The blistering seems to happen when it’s hotter, and on Sunday this is possible. Renault may have to have an extra pitstop or use a strategy similar to Silverstone in order to get a decent result.