Nico Hulkenberg continued his strong start to the season with an impressive sixth place in the Chinese Grand Prix, as he kept up his streak of points finishes in 2018.
The German has now twice finished P6, adding to his P7 from Australia, and is showing superb consistency in the Renault, in both qualifying and the race.
He has comfortably outperformed Carlos Sainz this season, the Spaniard has also been consistent but finishes of tenth, eleventh and ninth see him lagging behind with only three points compared to Hulkenberg’s 22.
The former Williams and Force India driver believes that their strategy worked well, saying: “We were on a two-stop strategy from the beginning so we had to make the tyre last while maintaining strong pace.
“It paid off well, the safety car played to our hands and made things easier.
“We were on top of the midfield so not a bad day overall. Eight points, we’ll take that home.”
Hulkenberg is now level with Fernando Alonso in the standings and the first three races suggest that it could be between those two for the ‘best of the rest tag’, with Haas and Toro Rosso both showing inconsistency and Force India way off the pace.