03 Jul 2012

Nico Hülkenberg celebrates his best finish in Valencia and talks about the challenge of Silverstone.

Nico, you picked up your best F1 finish in Valencia. Talk us through your feelings as you look back on the race…
I’m very happy with the result especially after such a tough race. I lost KERS from lap seven and so it was hard to overtake or defend, but I just pushed as hard as I could and we managed to come away with a great result. We showed that we were strong all weekend and that we are consistently improving with each race. Now I’m just looking forward to getting back in the car for Silverstone. 

Do you feel like the result in Valencia is a breakthrough moment for you and the team?
I think it was a result we needed in order to stay in touch with Williams and Sauber in the championship. It’s a boost for me, of course, but I think it was the sort of result we have been expecting for a while now. We thought we could do something similar in Canada, but things didn’t work out, so it was good to get some solid points in the bag in Valencia and start showing our real potential. It’s true that some cars dropped out of the race, but you still have to do the job, and that’s what we did.  

What memories do you have of racing at Silverstone in the past?
I have good memories from Silverstone, both in GP2 and Formula One. It is one of those classic races that bring a smile to your face when you think of some of the corners. I actually describe it as an “old-school” circuit because it’s narrow and you have to be really committed and brave through the quick parts of the lap. It’s super-fast and great fun when you hook up the perfect lap.

• Previous
• Next