German Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg experienced quite a number of ups and downs since he returned to Formula 1, driving for the Silverstone-based team. Hülkenberg, who lost his Williams in 2010, lies 16th in the driver standings, but is sure that the squad will improve.
Statistically the Vijay Mallya-run operation is having its best ever season, even though the team languishes eighth in the Championship after targeting a top five placing at the start of this year's campaign. This is due to the improvements of Williams and Sauber.
Speaking to the official F1 website, the German said: “Although we improved our car, we have to be realistic. Pace-wise we are still behind Sauber, Williams and all of the front-runners. This means that we have the chance to beat Williams, Sauber or Mercedes when our weekend goes completely smoothly and they struggle. In qualifying this happens more often, but in the race they have 50, 60 or 70 laps to get their faster cars in front of ours, so our race pace actually shows us where we really are.”
Hülkenberg, who has an impressive early career before coming to Formula 1, remains positive about an uplift.
When asked if a recovery is possible with nine races remaining, he replied: “Of course. We already showed last year that our development speed is very competitive and I do not see a reason why we shouldn't be able to repeat that again. We're only seven points shy of Williams and I think we can catch them. I don't know whether it’s possible to catch Sauber, it will be difficult, but the whole team will try their very best, that´s for sure.”
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2024 F1 Championship Standings (as of April 7)
P | Driver | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 77 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 64 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 59 |
4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 55 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 37 |
6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 32 |
7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 24 |
8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 24 |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 7 |
12 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 6 |
13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 3 |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 |
15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 0 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 0 |
17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 0 |
18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 0 |
19 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 0 |
20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 0 |
21 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 141 |
Poles: 4 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 3 | ||
2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 120 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | McLaren F1 Team | 69 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
4 | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 34 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 33 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 4 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Williams Racing | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |
2024 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of April 14)
P | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | 80 |
2 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati Lenovo | 59 |
3 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | 56 |
4 | Pedro Acosta | GASGAS Tech3 | 54 |
5 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo | 50 |
6 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM | 49 |
7 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia Racing | 39 |
8 | Marc Marquez | Gresini Racing | 36 |
9 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 25 |
10 | Jack Miller | Red Bull KTM | 22 |
11 | Marco Bezzecchi | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 20 |
12 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha | 19 |
13 | Alex Marquez | Gresini Racing | 14 |
14 | Miguel Oliveira | Trackhouse Racing | 13 |
15 | Joan Mir | Repsol Honda | 7 |
16 | Raul Fernandez | Trackhouse Racing | 7 |
17 | Augusto Fernandez | GASGAS Tech3 | 7 |
18 | Johann Zarco | LCR Honda Castrol | 5 |
19 | Alex Rins | Monster Energy Yamaha | 3 |
20 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda Idemitsu | 2 |
21 | Luca Marini | Repsol Honda | 0 |
22 | Franco Morbidelli | Pramac Racing | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Ducati Lenovo Team | 109 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
2 | Aprilia Racing | 95 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 2 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | Prima Pramac Racing | 80 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 1 GP wins: 1 | ||
4 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 71 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 | 61 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Gresini Racing MotoGP | 50 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 45 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 22 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | Trackhouse Racing | 20 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Repsol Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
11 | LCR Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |