F1 | Renault, Hulkenberg: “The VSC ruined our strategy”

Another disastrous day for the Renault team on the Shanghai track: despite yesterday's excellent qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg was unable to score the first points of his experience within the French Scuderia. The German's race was ruined by the entry of the "Virtual Safety Car" onto the track, ruining his strategy and therefore depriving him of the possibility of competing for a points finish. An anonymous performance also for Jolyon Palmer, thirteenth and never fighting for a place inside the top ten.

Here are the words of Nico Hulkenberg: “We took some risks in the very early stages of the race, but we were unable to capitalize on the advantage we gained immediately after the start. I didn't have enough temperature in the tires and it felt like I was driving on ice. The entry of VSC also ruined our strategy, depriving us of fighting for a points finish. It was a real shame because we had the pace to end a good weekend. We will try to redeem ourselves in Bahrain."

Here are Jolyon Palmer's impressions: “It was a very difficult race. We made the right choice in the very first laps, coming back and putting them on slicks, but the Virtual Safety Car ruined our strategy. I lost temperature in the tires and faced some really complicated laps. Let's look on the positive side though as the car worked quite well this weekend. We will go to Bahrain to score the first points and to make up for this start to the season."

Roberto Valenti