Nico Hulkenberg revealed he intentionally allowed Sergio Perez to overhaul him on the ultimate lap understanding he’d be capable to repass him.
The Haas mentioned he allowed the Crimson Bull driver to move him after making a mistake on the exit of the final nook as they started their last lap. By reclaiming the place Hulkenberg scored the workforce’s finest outcome because the identical race two years in the past.
The alternate occured as Perez hunted Hulkenberg down over the ultimate laps. The Crimson Bull driver suffered sidepod injury from contact with Oscar Piastri at flip 4 on the opening lap, later describing his sidepod as being “utterly destroyed” from the collision. Over the closing laps Perez, on softer tyres than his rival, gained on the Haas driver and got here inside DRS vary.
On the finish of the penultimate lap Hulkenberg touched the gravel on the last nook, permitting Perez to shut. The Crimson Bull driver handed Hulkenberg into flip three, however the Haas took benefit of a slipstream and DRS down the run to show 4 to comb again down the skin of the Crimson Bull.
Hulkenberg held on to assert the place by half a second. He wasn’t shut sufficient to Verstappen to realize benefit of the opposite Crimson Bull driver’s 10-second time penalty for inflicting a collision with Lando Norris. Nonetheless, Hulkenberg described his run from ninth on the grid to sixth as a “hell of a race” for him and his workforce.
“Particularly on the finish, it received so intense,” he advised the official F1 channel. “However I believe it was intense on the entrance too with Max and Lando – so it was occurring all over the place!”
“It was contact and go. I used to be actually pushing laborious to maintain Checo behind, however the final two laps, my tyres have been form of actually executed with it. I nearly misplaced the automobile utterly out of flip ten in an enormous method, went onto the gravel a bit after which had an enormous tank-slapper.
Advert | Grow to be a RaceFans supporter and
“Into [turn] three, I let him edge in entrance, so I may have DRS for the subsequent straight, which clearly put me again in entrance. Fortunately it was the ultimate lap, as a result of I’d haven’t survived one other lap.”
It was Hulkenberg’s fifth prime ten end over the primary 11 rounds of the championship and his finest outcome for Haas since becoming a member of them in 2023. Group mate Kevin Magnussen additionally scored factors in eighth. Hulkenberg admitted he had not anticipated the workforce to take pleasure in such a robust outcome on the Crimson Bull Ring.
“I’m very glad,” Hulkenberg mentioned. “Double factors for the workforce and in an enormous method. I didn’t count on that – clearly, one automobile out or one thing. However nonetheless, an incredible workforce efficiency, at present and this weekend.
“I believe, it’s confirmed now that we’re within the midfield on all types of various tracks. We’re aggressive, we are able to combat everybody. And that’s actually nice information and I’m very glad about that.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a each day e-mail with all our newest tales – and nothing else. No advertising and marketing, no advertisements. Join right here:
Advert | Grow to be a RaceFans supporter and
