25/07/2019
NEWS STORY
Currently fifth in the constructor standings, it's fair to say that Renault has under-performed thus far this season, and as it loses ground to McLaren it is aware that the likes of Alfa Romeo, Toro Rosso and Racing Point are not far behind.
"I think it's fair to say that so far this season we can't be entirely happy with what we've achieved," admitted Nico Hulkenberg at today's official press conference. "To start with we had a lot of issues and missed out on results, but a little bit more disappointing ist where we are in terms of pace and development rate, it's not really where we wanted and needed to be, so were behind the expectations this year.
"All in all, if you look across the three years, we can't be entirely happy with what we've done," he added. "Nevertheless, the outlook is still good, we still see light at the end of the tunnel and we believe we can still catch up to some extent. How much is still is always difficult to say with entire certainty but we will see what happens in the future."
The undisputed best of the rest, king of the midfield in 2018, this season, following a strong performance in Melbourne, had a long point-less run until Canada, and is currently 11th in the standings, just behind his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.
Nonetheless, he believes it likely that he will stay put for 2020.
"As for now there's nothing set in stone," he said, "but I think it's quite likely I'll remain with the team."
Asked about the fight with McLaren, which Renault provides with engines, and whether the 21 point gap is a fair reflection of the performance of the two teams, the German said: "The gap is 21 points... that's a fact. But I think we could be right up there with them if you add up all of the complications we had, all the missed results and problems.
"We should be there or thereabouts but for sure McLaren look very strong at the moment and are probably one of our main competitors that we will probably be battling with from here until the end."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Hockenheim, here.