The F1 Austrian GP was a major success for the Sauber team overall and a solid result for Nico Hülkenberg. Having already contributed 20 points to the team before the race, Hülkenberg added to that tally by finishing in ninth place in the Austrian GP securing valuable additional points for Sauber.
A perfectly executed race after a difficult qualifying
Hülkenberg was pleased with the overall execution of the race. Having started last, making up 11 places is no mean feat. While most of it was through strategy, he also overtook Bearman, Gasly and Hadjar on track.
“I think so. It was all a bit of a rush now, to be honest. I need to look back at it, but it felt clean.
“I think pace was decent, but it was difficult to judge at times, with obviously people stopping in different sequences. Happy, obviously. Good recovery, a bit of help to leave some cars out early.”
This marked an impressive recovery for Hülkenberg following a disappointing qualifying session, where he was eliminated in Q1 at the very bottom of the timesheets as he made an error at turn 4.
“But nevertheless, a good happy end after yesterday, which was a pretty dreadful quali[fying] for me.”
Starting on soft tyres, Hülkenberg would have been hoping for a relatively early safety car intervention, although it came too quickly on lap one. In the end he did two long but successful stints on mediums.
Ultimately Hülkenberg expressed satisfaction with how Sauber executed the strategy at the Austrian GP.
“We knew about that risk, but I think it didn’t really change the outlook of the plan. I think we stuck to our plan and executed it cleanly.”
Praise for teammate Bortoleto
The German driver praised his rookie teammate’s performance in the Austrian GP. He described it a well-deserved result for both the Brazilian and the team as a whole.
“Yeah, very happy. It was coming, it was very clear. I see how he works, how he drives, and I know how good he is.
“I could see it coming from a long way, from a long time. Very happy for him and for the entire team, double points. I don’t know, that must go back quite some time for the team.
“Very happy and positive day, and try to keep that momentum.”
Upgrades paid off
Recent upgrades to the Sauber have clearly improved the car’s performance, though Hülkenberg acknowledged that each circuit presents its own unique challenges.
“Yeah, I think obviously, again from Barcelona, that was obviously a step forward, plus what we did here. It’s always difficult to really feel track-on-track, weekend-on-weekend, because it’s quite a different feel often. I mean, Gabi [Bortoleto]’s quali[fying] pace was very, very encouraging yesterday.
“Today, obviously, there are two cars that we are fighting that executed a one-stop very successfully, which obviously we need to look at. But I think they were just very strong, Fernando [Alonso] and Liam [Lawson], today.”
With warm temperatures and high tyre degradation, Hülkenberg chose to run a two-stop strategy.
“Yeah, with the hot temperatures today, I think it was always a long shot for us. Personally, also, I was more comfortable on the two-stop.”
