After leaving Renault, last season, and ultimately shutting the door to what he felt was an unfinished F1 journey, Nico Hulkenberg has returned.
The German driver, however, is only filling in for Sergio Perez, who was declared to be positive for the coronavirus, after his re-test on Thursday confirmed the previous ‘inconclusive’ test.
Hulkenberg wasn’t the only driver on the radar of Racing Point as they did have the alternative options of using Mercedes reserve drivers – Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutierrez.
The former however was involved in a Formula E race and wouldn’t be an option, and Gutierrez on the other hand, though he would be present at Silverstone for the race weekend, hadn’t driven an F1 car since 2016 and would be a little rusty if called upon at such a quick notice.
And so Nico seemed the best fit as he had been seated in an F1 car just 8 months prior and also had a history with the team, having driven 5 seasons with the outfit under the Force India moniker.
On that Thursday afternoon, the former Renault driver got a call from the Racing Point boss Otmaz, and then everything swung into motion. By 7 pm that very evening, Nico found himself in the UK and then spent his time at the Racing Point factory from 9 pm until 2 am getting a seat fit done.
The next morning he had a go at the simulator to help him get up to speed with the RP20. Yes, he managed to do all of this in a span of just about 24 hrs, and that just goes to show you how much he wants to be on that grid.
Jumping into an F1 car is no piece of cake and the speeds and G forces a driver experiences, take a tremendous toll on the body.
Add to that the Silverstone track is one of the fastest on the calendar, and driver’s carry tremendous speeds into the corners, making driving around this track all the more challenging.
As expected, Nico looked exhausted after the practice sessions on Friday and admitted later that he would feel the pain the next morning, but he was happy to be in the car.
On Saturday, he was having a few problems with his headrest, and his neck was also pretty sore due to the extreme G’s his body was suddenly coping with.
But the Le Mans winner, nevertheless secured an impressive P13 despite being out of an F1 car for the past 8 months and driving the RP20 at the fast Silverstone track, was quite a daunting task.
Still, he rose to the challenge narrowly missing out on Q3 by just 0.065 seconds, while his teammate Lance Stroll managed to clinch a P6. Post qualifying, Nico described the experience as a “shock to the system” but he was pleased with the performance he was able to draw after being thrown into the deep end.
The big talking point of the Hulk’s return however is – will he be able to score that elusive podium? As it stands he holds the infamous record of being the only driver to not score a podium in 177 starts, a record he will be hoping to cover up on Sunday.
Realistically, his chances look slim starting from P13 on the grid, but stranger things have happened in Formula 1, and Nico will be hoping for some luck come race day. This time though things are slightly different compared to his previous F1 outings and he is driving a very fast RP20, arguably the second fastest car on that grid so a podium finish is not that bleak.
Even if Sunday does not go to plan for the German, this year’s unusual calendar will have the teams racing on the same track in just 7 days and so he’ll have the chance correct his errors and get more comfortable with the car.
Whether you’re a fan or not, there is no doubt that many want to see car no. 27 get on to that podium step and allow Nico to claim some redemption. He will get that chance on Sunday to prove just how capable and deserving he is of a full time seat in F1.
