Nico Hülkenberg ready for his eighth Formula One season
German driver Nico Hülkenberg will live his eighth season in Formula One and is the driver with the most Grand Prix races without reaching a podium, with 137, nine more than his compatriot Adrian Sutil, who had set the record at 128, a number that Hülkenberg surpassed last season as part of Renault.
The 30-year-old German made his debut in Formula One with Williams in 2010, but had to wait a year to return to the pinnacle of motorsport. He did it with Force India, where he finished fourth in Belgium in 2012, a result he repeated in Korea in 2013, but with Sauber.
Back with Force India, he came close to the podium in Spa-Francorchamps with a fourth place, but from there he fell away.
Last year he joined Renault with the aim of developing the car and improving the results of the French team's debut, which he accomplished with four sixth places.
This time, with higher aspirations in the French team, the German could put an end to that curse, although he prefers not to focus on the campaign that starts this weekend in Australia.
"I don't like to set specific goals for the season, I want to push as hard as I can, give everything every time I get in the car and then see what happens. Obviously, we all want the best possible results, but there are 19 other drivers fighting for the same objective," he told La Afición.
Hülkenberg is excited about the development that has taken place at Renault for this season and stated that the key will be to keep the car on the track, after suffering six retirements in 2017, three in the last five races.
"I see a team that is hungry to compete and achieve its goals. As a driver, that excites me. We are focused on reliability this year, so it is important that we solve that because it will help us to push and fight for a good amount of points in every race," he said.
After Force India finished fourth in the constructor's championship twice in a row, behind Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, there are several candidates this time, including the French team, which had 49 more points between 2016 and 2017 and expects to grow even more.
"We will fight for points in every Grand Prix. Carlos (Sainz) and I will strive to be competitive every weekend. We don't set goals, we take things one step at a time, but we will spend many hours in the workshop to be prepared for this challenge," he said.
Happy with Sainz
After a season in which he had British driver Jolyon Palmer as his teammate, who in his second year in the series only scored eight points, all with a sixth-place finish in Singapore, two races before saying goodbye to Formula One, Hulk will have Sainz as his full-time partner, after sharing the garage in the last four races of 2017.
"Carlos is a very talented driver and we will push each other during the season with the collective goal of benefiting the team. He showed what he can do when he joined the team for the last four races of the season. What I know is that we will improve our level this year and I think it's healthy and an argument to motivate the team," he said.
The biggest novelty in Formula One for this season is the introduction of the halo, a device that goes over the driver's seat to keep him safe from a possible external impact. Although its introduction received some criticism within the grid, the drivers have ultimately accepted it, including the experienced German driver.
"I am calm about the halo. It doesn't distract or bother me, and it's there for a reason. We have to accept that it is a prominent object in the car for now, but all we want is to race," he mentioned.
The winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 will seek success starting this weekend in Melbourne with the car that he has helped develop, in order to not have to wait another season to achieve his first Formula One podium.
However, he will have the pressure of surpassing Sainz, who scored more points than Hülkenberg last year, despite competing with two different teams in the season.