Hülkenberg "frustrated" with lack of points recently given "competitive pace"

Renault driver Nico Hülkenberg has been frustrated with the lack of points the French works team have scored recently, with the German scoring three points in the previous two races while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was left empty-handed.

Both Hülkenberg and Ricciardo have had a fair bit of bad luck in those two races in Russia and Singapore, in which they both qualified in the top ten. However, Ricciardo harshly got sent to the back of the grid for running an illegal MGU-K, with the Aussie unable to drive into the points from there.

Hülkenberg took a hit from Carlos Sainz in lap one but still managed P9, and followed that up by scoring another point in Russia after qualifying in seventh. Ricciardo retired in that race after colliding with Antonio Giovinazzi on the first lap. 

An unlucky two races despite Renault's promising pace, meaning they'll need to get a big result this weekend at Suzuka.

"It’s obvious we missed out on points in Singapore and Russia and that’s frustrating given our competitive pace and qualifying positions," the 32-year-old referred to the past two races.

"We’re still in the battle for fourth. We have to focus race by race and extract everything from the weekend.

"Our Sunday’s especially have to be cleaner, but that’s down to a range of factors: on my side, on the team’s side and some things we can’t control. We have to target big points in Japan."