Force India thinks Nico Hulkenberg has left the team at the wrong time – Formula 1 news
Bob Fernley, deputy team boss of Force India, has stated that Nico Hulkenberg has moved to Sauber F1 at a wrong time since Force India has now begun to show potential and the driver has missed out on that opportunity.
“I think so,” Fernley told AUTOSPORT when asked if Hulkenberg was leaving while Force India was improving. “If you look at the stats since the summer break, the Force India car was clearly the fifth best performing. We're still quite a distance off the top
four, but since the summer break we've forged ahead of all the others.”
Fernley also added that despite everything, the team is going to miss the German driver.
“We're very sad to see Nico go,” he said. “He's been a great asset to the team. We've enjoyed having him around and it's a loss to us. There's no question that we're sad he's leaving.”
He also denied that the reason Hulkenberg’s teammate at Force India, Paul di Resta, failed to match his performance was because he was trying to secure a race seat somewhere else for the new season. He said that both drivers were quite close in terms of
their performance throughout the season and it is hard to judge who was better. He said that Di Resta has to move forward and prepare himself for the upcoming season.
Hulkenberg had announced his move to Sauber F1 in October and he will be replacing Sergio Perez who is moving to McLaren. Di Resta had admitted that it was surprising that Hulkenberg had decided to secure a race seat with their rivals. Force India had been
in competition with Sauber F1 for the sixth place towards the end of the season. He was of the opinion that Force India was more consistent in their performance.
Meanwhile, Hulkenberg has expressed that he is ready for his role as a driver in his new team. He said that he is focusing on delivering good results and is hopeful that he will be able to start the new season with the momentum he displayed during the recent
Brazilian GP.
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