Hulkenberg unfazed by ‘team leader’ tag
- Published on 12 Feb 2017 10:37
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Nico Hulkenberg has said that he isn't acknowledging the suggestions that he his now a team leader as he prepares to take part in his first season at Renault after leaving Force India at the end of 2016.
The German enters his seventh season of racing in Formula 1 and after stints at Williams, Sauber and Force India, Renault will be his first works team. He is much more experienced than his new team mate Jolyon Palmer, who will be taking part in his second season of F1.
However Hulkenberg has played down suggestions that he is now a team leader due to his experience compared to his British team mate
"To be honest that's not so important," he told Racer. "I think that's something that gets emphasised by the media, to lead the team. What does it mean, to lead the team? You want to be in front, you want to beat your team-mate. If you lead or not, it doesn't matter."
He added: "It's more important for me to help the team, to bring it forward, to develop it and then later on to develop for me. That also means I have to beat my team–mate whoever that will be, both this year and beyond. But I'm not too fussed about the leader thing – I'm going to do my job and whoever is next to me is not really that important to me."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (3)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
I'd be very surprised if Palmer did better than Hulk this year
mclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
No sh!t Sherlock he has to be 'team leader' because only someone of top skill can do some defying performances in a turd of a car. There are going to be a couple of epic turd cars in 2017. Renault has it's name secure on one of them.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
If Palmer can go head to head with Hulkenberg I'll be impressed. I doubt he will be as consistent, but as long as he can match him in terms of speed thats impressive enough, consistency can come with experience.