Nico Hulkenberg was left buoyed by his best finish with Renault in Hockenheim after claiming fifth-place at the German Grand Prix in front of his home fans.
Despite running the new front wing for the weekend, Hulkenberg was still unable to beat the Haas duo in qualifying, however, he utilised his vast experience in Formula 1 to handle the ever-changing race with tactical precision.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Photo gallery | Championship standing
Even when the rain arrived in the latter stages of the race, the German driver attempted to try the intermediate tyre but was fortunate enough to change back to slicks under the safety car called for Sebastian Vettel's stranded Ferrari in the Sachskurve gravel trap.
"I’m very happy with that," said Hulkenberg. "The first part of the race wasn’t so exciting, but it was unfolding nicely towards the end, then the rain hit us. It was tricky out there trying to keep it on the road, but I enjoy those conditions and started to make some gains.
"It’s good points for the team, our joint best finish of the season and my best finish with Renault. More crazy conditions would have been nice, but we’ll take that. We made the right decisions and that’s why we deserve fifth today.
"We’ve been working hard for it, so it’s a nice reward for the team. We did a good job."
Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul also heaped praise on the German's efforts throughout the race and also felt team-mate Carlos Sainz could have been much closer to Hulkenberg had the race fallen in a similar manner for the Spaniard.
"It was a very eventful race in front of an amazing crowd at Hockenheim," added the Frenchman. "It probably gave extra focus and motivation for Nico and that’s what he showed.
"It would have been easy to make a mistake on the track or make the wrong tyre call in the uncertain conditions. He, Mark Slade his engineer, and the whole team did an excellent job of staying on top of the conditions and making the right calls and execute them properly.
"We have the feeling that Carlos could have joined the party where Nico was as well with a good start, good pace and similar stops, but it just did not go his way. He also lost two positions with the 10-second penalty post-race.
"We need to better understand what happened there as it was a very busy race. It’s a race which again showed it’s very tight between us, McLaren, Force India and Haas. There are ten more races to go, which means ten more tight and exciting battles for everyone."
Hulkenberg sits seventh in the Driver's standings 12 points clear of Fernando Alonso in eighth, Renault holds a strong fourth position in the Constructors' Championship 21 points clear of Force India in fifth.
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