Despite some fine racing, the Renault F1 Team endured a frustrating Chinese Grand Prix this afternoon when Nico Hülkenberg finished 12th and his British teammate Jolyon Palmer was one placer behind him in 13th.
In what was an eventful 56 lap race at the Shanghai International Circuit, Nico's fine Saturday qualifying performance was undone by an early pit stop for dry tyres being followed by an incident on track requiring a Virtual Safety Car.
Unfortunately, this negated any advantage the team's strategy could have provided.
“We took a risk right at the end of the first lap and came in for slicks as the track was really dry everywhere apart from the main straight,” Nico explained. “As I exited the box though, Stroll crashed and the Virtual Safety Car came out, and in damp conditions if you can't push, you lose all the tyre temperature. I lost all grip; it was like driving on ice and I spun a few times… From there it just went wrong, the VSC pretty much ruined our strategy and so the race. It's a shame because I think it could have worked out very nicely for us today.”
The same Virtual Safety Car also undid the potential of an early stop for dry tyres for Jolyon Palmer.
The pair crossed the finish line just two seconds apart at the chequered flag.
“Ultimately, this has been a frustrating weekend for us. We showed strong potential with our P7 on Saturday, however the race did not deliver the results we wanted,” said Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director. “The early Virtual Safety Car meant we were immediately on the back foot as we'd already pitted Nico to cover the threat from those behind. He then also received a penalty. "
"Jolyon suffered from the same Virtual Safety Car affecting his strategy and after that we were on damage limitation. We are disappointed to end the second Grand Prix with no points, however the positives are that we showed both pace and reliability here. We need to harness our potential better in the coming races.”
