Szafnauer: "We had to get him in the car quickly."

In the end Formula 1 only had three Grands Prix without Nico Hülkenberg when the German was suddenly drafted in for Sergio Perez, who tested positive for COVID-19. Before Hülkenberg got a 'go' to join the paddock, he had to do two tests himself. And that result was only just in time for FP1.

Everything had to happen so quickly

Hülkenberg was spotted by the press early in the morning. He ran through the paddock to arrange his last things for his return in Formula 1. For example, he walked into the spare overalls and shoes of Lance Stroll and only got the results of his coron test back fifteen minutes before the start of VT1.

According to Racing Point team boss Otmar Szafnauer, Hülkenberg also started the session five minutes late in all haste. “We got the ‘go’ from Eurofins at quarter to 11 saying that his test came back negative. So then we had to quickly get him in the car," he says according to Racefans.net.

Satisfaction with the feedback

“But he quickly came up to speed and his feedback was as it always is. So there’s more improvement in the car, there’s things he doesn’t like, there’s things he does like. So we will make those improvements between now and FP2 and we’ll see how we go but I think he was ninth and pretty comfortable”, Szafnauer concludes.