Nico Hulkenberg thinks keeping it simple and focusing on the important things will lead him to success with Renault, including putting off any potential Le Mans returns.
The German may believe Renault have the potential to take him towards the front of the grid in the future but, for now, Hulkenberg is urging the team to follow in Force India’s footsteps and keep things simple.
It was a method that worked well for Force India last year. The team took fourth in the constructors’ championship, leading Hulkenberg to ninth in drivers’ championship.
“Some big teams have so many resources and they get lost sometimes in the complexity of the sport and of engineering,” he told RACER. “At Force India, I think we were good at keeping it simple, focusing on the important stuff and that way we ran pretty well and successfully.”
Renault had a more difficult time. Their return to Formula 1 as a full manufacturer team saw them finish eighth as a team and, though they might have hopes of beating Toro Rosso this season, the Renault are unlikely to be at the sharp end of the field for a while. That isn’t putting Hulkenberg off, of course.
“I’m not at all nervous,” he said. “I’m excited. Yeah, there’s a lot of work in front of us, but I find that exciting. I know what they’re doing and what the shorter-term and longer-term plan is. It sounds encouraging to me.”
Hulkenberg also ruled himself out of any return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans any time soon, even though there will be no clash with his F1 commitments this year.
“I would still like to do [Le Mans] some day, but with last year’s calendar anyway… 2015 I think the calendar was a bit more relaxed. Things were getting more and more so you need to really be sure that you can do both. I think it’s good the way it is. I can always go back a bit later.”
Though there is no actual clash, any F1 driver attempting Le Mans would face six races in eight consecutive weekends.
