Sign-off echoes a frustrating career
Missing out on a point in potentially his last Formula 1 race serves as a sad microcosm for Nico Hulkenberg’s career: he did a good job in underwhelming machinery, but ended without the result his ability and effort deserved.
When the Renault driver got mugged for a point on the final lap of the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it cost him what might well have been his final point in Formula 1. The driver with the record number of grand prix starts without a podium finish will not be adding to his tally of races next year, as he has lost his seat to Esteban Ocon.
Hulkenberg barely bothered to conceal his frustration during Renault’s disappointing 2019 season, although it is not exactly clear if this played a part in his eventual exit or was the manifestation of him realising he was on his way out. Either way, having been “instrumental” to Renault’s rise over the previous two years and establishing himself as team leader, a combination of poor performance from the team and the arrival of Daniel
Ricciardo put Hulkenberg’s future on the brink.
Though he compared well to Ricciardo in qualifying, Hulkenberg found his new team-mate different gravy on Sundays. Six points finishes in nine races after the summer break pointed to him finding form and bowing out on a high, but he was often a step behind Ricciardo and, as other drivers snapped up the few remaining seats, Hulkenberg found himself standing when the music stopped.
Renault was not the team it should have been in 2019 and Hulkenberg should not be marked down for that.
But as Ricciardo hauled himself to ninth in the drivers’ championship, Hulkenberg failed to find the same peaks – he did not claim a single ‘Class B’ pole or victory all year.
He slipped to 14th in the standings, his worst finish since his first year in F1 with Williams in 2010. Hulkenberg now finds himself in exactly the same position as he did after his rookie campaign, with no seat for next season. Sadly for the 32-year-old, time is no longer on his side.
12 DECEMBER 2019
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“As others snapped up the remaining seats, Hulkenberg found himself standing when the music stopped”