Nico Hulkenberg took home Renault's first points of the season after the German came across the line in P9 in yesterday's Bahrain Grand Prix. He claimed the French manufacturer's first point finish since Malaysia in 2016 but said he was wrestling with the car a lot throughout the race.
“It’s good to have the first points of the season on the board. I think I had a good race given the pace of the car," he said after the race "I really wrestled with it a lot. We are a lot better in qualifying. But over the 57 laps of the race we exposed some of the areas where we need to improve."
Hulkenberg is sticking around in Sakhir to participate in the in-season test: "Fortunately, I am testing here on Tuesday," he pointed out. "So we have a great opportunity to make progress. We have some updates for evaluation when I’m in the car, which will hopefully improve our race pace by a big chunk for Sochi."
Jolyon Palmer had a more disappointing race after qualifying in the top 10 for the first time in his F1 career. Despite enjoying a close battle with Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso, he says the race was tough.
"It was a tough race," admitted the Briton. "I had a good fight with Alonso and Kvyat after the safety car bunched everyone up. But the couple of touches with Kvyat didn’t help."
Fergal Walsh
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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