Well, that was fun while it lasted. But there wasn’t to be any sensational story for Nico Hulkenberg. The German finished the race in P7 thus ending his (and the whole F1 world’s) dream of seeing him on the podium this weekend.
Hulkenberg didn’t get off to the greatest of starts, losing a couple of positions on the opening lap. But despite the dream of a podium evaporating early on, he still seemed destined for a P4 finish. However, a late pitstop threw that possibility out of the window.
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He instead finished behind his teammate Lance Stroll, leading some people to question why Nico was pitted a third time. Certain people even alleged that the move was done on purpose so that Lance could finish ahead of Hulkenberg.
This led to Racing Point‘s official Twitter account to hit back at such allegations. They put out a tweet saying, “Incorrect. Albon would have passed both drivers, so the result would not have been different.”
Racing Point clear why Nico Hulkenberg was pitted for the third time
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Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point
After the above tweet, people were still unclear as to why the Hulk had to come back into the pits. As a result, Racing Point put up a follow-up tweet stating the reason for the same. The tweet read, “Hulkenberg reported a significant vibration towards the end of the race, hence the call to pit him a third time. Unlikely to have made the flag without it.”
After an unfortunate DNS in the previous race, Hulkenberg would graciously take the P7 finish. Obviously, he would be disappointed to have blown a golden chance to earn his maiden podium, but perhaps the honor to have raced in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix would make up for it. Also, the fact that he got the chance to initiate some talks about a permanent return for next season, would make him happier.
Also Read: Nico Hulkenberg Holding Talks With “Quite A Few People” Over F1 Return
He could yet get another chance at next week’s Spanish Grand Prix. If Perez were not to recover in time, or not be fit enough to race a whole weekend, Nico may well get his third bite of the cherry. If he does get that opportunity, boy, do we hope he gets his podium.
Source: Twitter.com @RacingPointF1