Renault’s new arrival Nico Hulkenberg says he is ‘not fussed’ about being a team leader at the French marque in 2017.
The German who has been in Formula 1 since 2010, has a wealth of experience in his armoury with 115 Grand Prix starts, less so than team-mate Jolyon Palmer who only has his 2016 season to draw from.
Hulkenberg told RACER: “I think that’s something that gets emphasised by the media, to lead the team.
“What does it mean, to lead the team? You want to be in front, you want to beat your teammate. If you lead or not, it doesn’t matter.”
Having already admitted that 2017 will still be a learning year for Renault, Hulkenberg still feels he is in the right place to focus and capitalise on the results, once the team can fight at the front again.
“It’s more important for me to help the team, to bring it forward, to develop it and then later on to develop for me,” Hulkenberg added.
“That also means I have to beat my teammate whoever that will be, both this year and beyond.
“But I’m not too fussed about the leader thing – I’m going to do my job and whoever is next to me is not really that important to me.”
Renault is due to unveil its 2017 car on February 21 in a week full of car launches, stay tuned to Read Motorsport for all of the latest updates.
