Nico Hulkenberg thought it was shame to be undercut by Fernando Alonso in F1 Singapore GP, as Kevin Magnussen was unlucky to get a puncture when others didn’t.
In the fight for sixth in the constructors’ championship, Haas had the chance to score two more points and trim the gap to one between them and Visa Cash App RB in F1 Singapore, but for a small strategy error that held them back to finish ninth in the end after running sixth for most part.
Hulkenberg, in fact, made a good start to clear Oscar Piastri but was overtaken soon enough. He then held off Alonso and Charles Leclerc in his first stint. The Spaniard pitted earlier which was crucial as the Aston Martin driver managed to undercut the German, while the two Ferrari cars did so too.
He couldn’t take back the place from Alonso, but crucially managed to hold off Sergio Perez to score the two points at least. Two more would have taken them to 33 against Visa Cash App RB’s 34 right now. Hulkenberg reckons it was a shame on the strategy side and that they will review together.
“It is tough to overtake with these cars when you get close now, and the braking zones are so small as we brake so late, very difficult to overtake here,” said Hulkenberg to media. “A difficult second stint under a lot of pressure from Perez, not that we were racing but we just had to stay clean and then kind of…Fernando, we are catching him or he was dropping back, then started to feel his dirty air and that meant it was slightly harder for me, with Perez also pushing from behind.
“Yeah, managed to get home somehow and very pleased about that. The second stint somehow I struggled more. The first stint, Fernando obviously pitted a little earlier, so we need to review the strategy a bit, obviously a shame to undercut there. It was five laps and we were already quite well advanced in the medium stint.
“We went very long, actually longer than we anticipated, so couple of things to look at. It was not easy with the tyres, it was difficult and rear deg started to kick in and it was a fine window and here, you can’t really push, you have to drive in a way conservative but still push and then stay clean. It was a difficult one, a tough one, but I am happy that we got points,” summed up Hulkenberg.
Teammate Kevin Magnussen made a return after serving his race ban and to his luck, he clipped the barrier which caused puncture. The Dane couldn’t do much and was plainly unlucky considering the sheer number of drivers who hit the barrier and were unscathed throughout.
“We weren’t good on the hard, we were sliding around and we weren’t making it last long as we had to, so it was kind of compromised already then the race, of course, but doing that strategy was kind of only chance of moving forward,” said Magnussen. “And then I had the puncture. There are some spots on the track, I guess it is rough and you cut the tyres. That was me.”
Here’s Sergio Perez on getting stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg
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