YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS
Nico Hülkenberg on Le Mans, tennis and his move to Renault
While F1 Racing – and the rest of the world’s media
– can move from motorhome to motorhome, freely accessing each team as and when required, for drivers it’s a different story. At circuits they tend to stick to their own well-trodden route between team hospitality, engineering trucks and the back of the garage.
For Nico Hülkenberg, that walk takes place in new surroundings this year, following his switch from Force India to Renault. If his short trip to the yellow-and-black trucks for his photoshoot at a sun-kissed Circuit de Barcelona-catalunya is anything to go by, it has brought with it increased interest as he pauses for numerous photos and autographs.
On the way back to the hospitality unit, Hülkenberg is untroubled by those same fans, on account of being immersed deep in conversation with a Renault engineer about the location of his car. But once he sits down inside, the pile of question cards awaiting him from F1 Racing readers suggests his recent switch of teams and career to date have piqued considerable interest…
You have driven on many different tracks during your career. Which track – not necessarily in F1 – is your favourite? Michael Ewert, Denmark
I have to say, my favourite is still Monaco. It’s just got something about it that you can’t take away. Racing there, with that scenery, is amazing, but also there’s the thrill of going out with your car and knowing you are going to be so close to the wall, pushing the limit. It’s really thrilling. Monaco is just unique, and, for me, it’s a quite unbeatable track. F1R: Do you think it will be even better with the new cars? NH: Yeah, the buzz will be even greater because the corner speeds are also going to be a lot faster and we’re going to feel like we’re flying there.
Why did you choose to move to Renault? Hass Monsoor, Australia
After many years with one team, I felt I needed a change of scenery. As nice as it was, and as much as I like Force India still, sometimes in the professional world you need to take on a new challenge. I think I was very much at that point last year.
Are you somewhat annoyed that you signed the Renault deal so early? After all, you possibly could have held out and secured a Mercedes race seat… Nicolaus Koretzky, Germany
What was your motivation for leaving Force India? Ali Mayos, USA
What is your favourite comedy show? It can be German or English… James Brooker, UK
What is the strangest gift that you have received from a fan? Laura Anderson, UK
What road cars do you own? Antonio Hewitt, UK I GOT A WEDDING PROPOSAL FROM A FAN WHO LIKED ME A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH! IT WAS ON A DVD AND SHE INTRODUCED HER FAMILY, HER TOWN AND EVERYTHING. THAT WAS QUITE INTENSE!
Hi Nico, I was at Interlagos in 2010 and was there when you took your first pole for Williams. Tell us about your emotions that day. Eusebio Sachser, Brazil
Does your Renault contract give you any freedom to do other races like Le Mans or Bathurst? Mark Roberts, UK
Your former GP2 boss and Renault team principal Frédéric Vasseur has left. Were you surprised? How will this affect development of the team? Andrzej Chrystyniak, Poland
And on top of that, coming fourth with Force India was just a hell of a thing. I think that for this moment it was the peak for them, and to go beyond that and try to get even closer to the front will be quite tough for them. Here, I think there will be better opportunities for that. Well, I disagree to be honest. There were three months between signing the Renault deal and Nico Rosberg retiring. How could anyone have possibly foreseen that he was going to retire just days after winning the world championship? I think it would have been completely stupid and nonsensical to wait. And on top of that, I’m totally happy with what I’ve decided about coming here with a manufacturer team. Obviously we’re not Mercedes yet and we’re not as good as they are, but I like the challenge that I’m facing and the responsibility to take this team back to where they should be. Because we’re going to be great in one year’s time, that’s why. And they’re going to give me a car that allows me to show what I can do. To be honest I’m not a big show guy, I don’t watch shows that much, I’m more into movies. Comedies, okay, I have a German friend who runs a show called Circus Halligalli which is quite popular in Germany. They’re going to stop it now, but it’s two guys who are a bit nuts and it’s quite fun. F1R: And a favourite comedy film? NH: Yeah, that’s also German, it’s called Männerherzen – ‘Men’s Hearts’ – and it’s hilarious. That would have to be a wedding proposal from an Indonesian girl who liked me a little bit too much I think! It was on a DVD she sent me, and she introduced her family, her town and everything. That was quite intense! F1R: What did you say? NH: I said nothing. F1R: Well, now’s your chance to respond! Is that a no? NH: I didn’t respond. I don’t own all that many fancy ones, to be honest. The only one that I gifted to myself, after winning Le Mans with Porsche, was a GT3 RS. It’s a great sportscar, just unbelievable on track, fantastic handling, and great fun. It has an aspirated engine, which I like a lot, I’m not the biggest turbo fan… actually, I can’t say that now! But that one basically, and now, as a Renault driver, I have a Renault company car: a Mégane G. F1R: If you’re honest, do you prefer the Porsche? NH: Er, yes. It came very unexpectedly, to be honest. That qualifying was very peculiar, wasn’t it? It started off wet in Q1 and dried out throughout. By the end of Q3, it was just about okay to go out on slicks but it was still very damp in most places. It was quite tricky and risky at the same time but everyone went to slicks so my engineer told me: ‘You’ve got to come in; we need to put slicks on.’
I left the pitlane and drove like a nutter trying to get temperature in those tyres and find grip. My natural driving style came out well, being really aggressive, pushing on the fronts and rears, which enabled me to have good temperature and grip. The second to last lap would have set pole, but I went for another not knowing anything about it. My engineer didn’t tell me: he kept quiet and let me focus. I was all-in on that lap and I hit it perfectly, which is hard in those sorts of circumstances. I remember each lap was getting a bit drier, so each lap you could push a bit more: on one corner you could, and another one not so much, and you just had to adapt and learn quickly. But that lap was pretty sensational. To be honest I don’t think so. I haven’t touched on that subject too much with Renault because my mind is not on doing other projects, my mind is fully focused on doing this, here, right now, with them. That’s why I haven’t even touched base with them on that, because I don’t want to go there for now, this year or next year. We will see what happens after that, but for the moment it’s not an option.
Yes, I was surprised about that. Perhaps I saw it coming a little bit sooner than people in other teams because I knew that there was some friction, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, let’s say. I think he was and could have been a great asset to this team and to the Renault story, but sometimes when there are problems it’s better to do something, better to change something, and then get on with your business rather than to end up in a situation where people are perhaps not all working together in the same direction. We will manage.
How competitive should Renault be in 2017, and are you expecting to beat the Force Indias? James Potter, UK
I’d very much like to think and hope that this year we can make the midfield. I’m quite certain that Renault will have a better year than they did last year [laughs] – I think that’s safe for me to say! It depends where Force India turn out. At the moment they still have homework to do, but it would give me great pleasure to beat them, to be honest, and we will try to do that.
Which driver would you most trust if you ever wanted to share a secret and why? A R King, UK
Never trust a driver, that’s what I’d say!
F1R: You don’t have any close friends on the grid?
NH: I wouldn’t call them close friends. More buddies. I was running in Monaco the other day and bumped into Nico Rosberg and then we ran together for a while. I played tennis with Daniil Kvyat last Sunday. It happens every now and then. We get on well, we’re buddies – but it’s not like your mates from school.
What is your favourite hobby outside of Formula 1? Bayley Graham, New Zealand
It’s definitely tennis. Playing tennis is a lot of fun. On top of that it’s good training for what we do in the cars, so it’s a win-win situation. I just really like the sport and it’s different to F1. Tennis is about the athlete and the racquet and losing or winning is in his power and discretion. That’s probably why I like it, because here you’re always more or less limited to your car and your tool, whereas tennis is a sport where it’s really you and yourself. Had I discovered tennis earlier in my life I think I could have seen myself also going down that route because I have some talent and would have liked that. It’s just you, and the determination and hard work that you put in dictates whether you can reach success. Of course, there are other hurdles, but not as many as in F1.
What sort of reaction did you get from your fellow F1 drivers after winning Le Mans? Benjamin Greig, UK F1R:
I got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of congratulatory messages from all of them. Most of them really thought it was a cool story and they all congratulated me.
Did you get anything from Fernando?
NH: Yeah he spoke to me, he asked me a lot of things about it afterwards! The weekend after, I remember, he was quite curious about the whole Le Mans thing and I think he wants to do it himself some day.
Hi Nico, when we were racing together in the German F3 Cup, we had a chat in Salzburg when you asked me about my goal to get to Formula 1. Do you remember? Ciao! Luca Iannaccone, Italy
I remember this guy! I remember his name. I don’t remember this particular chat to be honest.
Will you still make time to come and visit the fans at the Woodlands campsite at Silverstone? Hayley Stanway, UK
I don’t know, it depends if Renault make me go there…
Andy Stobart, Renault press officer:
If you want to, we can make it happen. If it’s really muddy we’ve got the yellow wellies. NH: Hayley, put your request to Andy Stobart at Renault and he’ll sort it out for you!