Source: Renault Sport Media

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Hulkenberg hoping for another strong outing in Russia

Hulkenberg hoping for another strong outing in Russia

24-09-2018 10:17
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Renault's Nico Hülkenberg saw his three-race drought of points end in Singapore as he and his teammate Carlos Sainz both finished in the points, and the German now hopes to replicate his "strong" 2017 race in Russia.

The double points-finish meant that Renault created a little buffer again between them and P4-competitors Haas F1, who couldn't get either car within the points in Singapore.

The Hülk scored his second-ever points for Renault last season in Sochi as he finished eighth, and this is something he would like to replicate, as he typically struggled at the track, never scoring points in Russia until last year.

"I haven’t had the best luck in Russia up until that [2017] after a couple of retirements, but we’ve put that behind us now and we’ll be aiming for another strong finish this season as well," Hülkenberg is quoted by F1i.com.

"It’s one of the longer laps of the season, with lots of corners.

"That provides a challenge as you have to string together those combinations and get the sectors nailed perfectly; especially in qualifying."

Sochi is generally a well-liked track, despite a lot of drivers admitting they haven't performed at their peak there. It could be because it's a relatively young circuit where the asphalt hadn't been properly been rubbered in yet by racing cars, but the fact remains that it usually provides for some excellent races. Last season we saw Valtteri Bottas's first career win, and we saw Sergio Pérez score a very unlikely podium for Force India two years earlier as well. What can this year's race produce?