“The neck sticks out at the Moment, the tongue.” So Nico Hulkenberg described his physical condition after his first Qualifying session in the season 2020. The German had to get used to the shock of his formula 1 Comeback again to the speed. For his 13. He receives praise from fellow drivers.
“That’s definitely not the best stretch for the back of the neck, to drive the first practice or the first race,” says Lewis Hamilton. The pole setter describes that due to the high output of the current-Generation curves such as Copse full throttle will be driven, approximately 5g act on the body of the driver.
“[In Silverstone], there is fairly intense and curve combinations, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wakes up in the morning and a little the worse for wear feel. But generally he was always in very good shape,” noted the Briton and describes: “I saw him go in. It looked as if he’d never been away.”
Verstappen: “He deserves the place on the Grid,”
The greatest difficulty, but in the physical effort, you can get used to. According to Hamilton, Hulkenberg is required, especially to understand the car. “Preparation plays a big role in the understanding of the car. If you don’t understand the tools that you get, or the simulations, the Team used …”
That is the biggest challenge, believes Hamilton. He is confident that the Emmericher nevertheless, a lot of. “He is a great driver. If anyone can do this, then he is.” Also team-mate Valtteri Bottas noticed that Hulkenberg has done well.
“This is certainly a great challenge for him, especially due to the short-term decision-making.” Especially on the wealth of experience Hulkenberg could build now, believes the Finn. “I wish him a good race.”
On Sunday, will have to put it back, Hulkenberg 52 laps (a distance of 306,198 kilometers). “I could already see after the first Training session, his neck hung to one side down,” smiles Max Verstappen. “He has a pretty long neck, you need not necessarily in formula 1,” he says.
The Dutchman chats the beans and told: “I have talked to in the past with him, when he was still a regular driver. He had so little joy. It is tough, because you can train as much as you want – if you’re going for the first Time with these cars, particularly here, you’ll feel it then.”
Therefore, the Red Bull Pilot is sure that the German must have felt on Saturday after getting Up, the effort of the previous day. “But that does not bother him, because he is happy that he is here and he should be here, because he deserves this place on the Grid,” stresses Verstappen.
switch from Renault to Mercedes
Impressed with the performance of the German on Saturday and Alexander Albon showed. The Thai was classified in the Qualifying session is extremely short (order of 0.021 seconds) in front of Hulkenberg. “What you do not understand the people: You get used to always have a car, so I’m sure he was used to the Renault.”
The riding style and also his body had to change in the first place. “It takes a long time to get adjusted,” says Albon from experience. He moved in the previous year, in the summer break of AlphaTauri to Red Bull.
“The hardest part is probably to get used to the Steering and all Mercedes-parts”, you can also imagine Lando Norris. “This is of course, completely different than the Renault. And it is not so easy to understand everything right off the bat because of the different buttons and their different meanings.”
that is Why Hulkenberg is still on the Friday before the first Training session in the Simulator of Racing Point a few laps. “I feel sorry for him a bit,” said the McLaren driver due to the physical exertion. He could not imagine that Hulkenberg had trained in his off time still the same hard as before.
“But after all, he sits in a very fast car. Therefore, I wish him the best of luck. Nice that he’s back,” says Norris. His team-mate Carlos Sainz admired hülkenberg’s lightning comeback as well, and noted how difficult it is to turn at Silverstone, a fast lap in a current car. “The physical preparation, you need to drive one of the cars in Silverstone, is impressive.”
The neck and the entire body must cope with high g-forces, the white of the Spaniards. “There are a couple of changes of direction here, which are totally crazy and so fast. So it must be a great challenge, after a year’s break to return to the same track in a fast car.”
This article was written by Maria Reyer, Co-author: Alex Kalinaukas
*The contribution of “Hamilton & co. Hulkenberg respect: he’d never been away” published by Motorsport-Total.com. Contact with the executives here.
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