Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley has dismissed the “transient” issue of Nico Hulkenberg‘s apparent dwindling form across recent Formula 1 races.
The German veteran has performed admirably during much of the European season, with a watershed career moment coming with his first-ever podium at Silverstone in July.
Hulkenberg’s management of a steadily-improving Sauber package has seen him score 37 points so far, leaving him 10th in the Drivers’ Championship.
But recently, Hulkenberg has found himself being pegged back by rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, who has scored 18 points since Austria.
The gulf in experience and the Brazilian’s rapid catching-up of Hulkenberg could be a cause for concern to many team bosses, but not to Wheatley, who explained why.
“It’s a question that I’m being asked more and more often now. I personally don’t feel there’s any fundamental issue here,” Wheatley said after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“Nico is a tremendous, experienced and fast racing driver and many, many times he’s been out-qualified by a thousandth, a hundredth. It’s not always a big thing.
“I honestly think it’s just transient. Gabriel’s fast as well, and if one of them gets the lap right, one of them is going to out-qualify the other.
“Gabriel has certainly been at a run of circuits where he’s more familiar with. With Nico, I don’t think there’s anything big to get over. He’ll just string it together.”
Hulkenberg bemoans luck as key reason for recent Sauber woes
Hulkenberg finished a lowly 16th in Baku, with Bortoleto over 10 seconds up the road in 11th, narrowly missing out on further points.
It underlined a frustrating period for Hulkenberg, who has put his recent issues down to luck.
“I always seemed to be on the wrong side of the timing, losing out here and there,” he said. “The highlight was definitely the restart – I managed a nice double overtake into Turn 3, which was rewarding.
“But after that, I was stuck behind Franco [Colapinto] and Lance [Stroll] for most of the first stint. We lost a lot of time there, and that was really the make-or-break moment.
“The pace at the end was good, but by then the race had already slipped away from us – qualifying and the early laps left us with too much to recover.
“There weren’t many variables or opportunities to shake up the order today. It wasn’t our strongest weekend, but we’ll take the lessons on board and focus on executing better next time out.”
READ MORE – How Mercedes F1 simulator failure contributed to Kimi Antonelli mid-season woes
Discussion about this post