Hulkenberg optimistic after positive first week of testing

Nico Hulkenberg says he is looking forward to the second week of testing after recording 247 laps during week one in the new Renault R.S.19.

Hulkenberg, who's 1:17.393s set on the final day of week one was the fastest time so far, admitted that there were some areas that could be improved ahead of week two but that the first four days in the new car had been positive.

Although his time was set on the C5 compound, the softest compound available to the teams, the German driver said he was happy with the team's progress over the winter.

“It’s been a good week overall with no real surprises or big dramas; only small things that the team have worked hard to rectify.

"The car is an evolution from last year and so far, it’s gone well. We’ve worked through our programme largely as planned with a lot of positive work done.

"We’ve been through a lot of different set-up work to see how the car reacts to discover more about the overall package.

"From now, it’s important we do our homework from this week and put it into the second test. We should have more parts to try out on the car next week, but we have a decent starting point to build off.”

Renault will be hoping to build on their strong first week and work on improving the car's performance ahead of the curtain raiser for the 2019 Formula One season in Melbourne, Australia.