Force India Bank on Hulkenberg
January 10th, 2012Force India will be giving Nico Hulkenberg the opportunity to once again compete as a first choice driver in Formula 1 after a year out of competitive racing, following his departure from Williams in 2010.
Last year he was taken on as Force India’s test and reserve driver, and has risen to claim a racing position, which was formerly held by Adrian Sutil. The German driver is pleased to have made it back after much uncertainty concerning his future in the sport, but can now concentrate on becoming a regular driver capable of delivering points for his team. “It was a huge relief and now I am really excited to start the new season,” Hulkenberg said, speaking of his promotion. “Obviously I knew a bit earlier than the announcement was made. But still, it was a long and hard time not knowing about my future.”
Nico’s team mate will be Paul Di Resta, the young Scottish driver who has made an extremely promising start, coming 13th in his inaugural season, and finishing strongly, with 8th, 9th and 10th place finishes in his last 3 races. Hulkenberg has been respectful of his team-mate’s skill, and is cautious of promising too much compared to the Scottish driver. “Obviously in Formula 1 you always want to beat your team-mate. This will be very tough, because Paul is very talented and has a good approach,” he said. “Plus, I will need some races to re-find my former level of performance. But we will hopefully push each other and, by doing that, push the team forward as well.”
Force India’s team principal Vijay Mallya has done a fantastic job of improving the Formula 1 outfit, since it bought the Spyker F1 team in 2007, and in the 2011 season the Silverstone-based team finished 6th in the constructor’s championship, just 4 points behind Renault. If Hulkenberg can live up to the standard set by Di Resta, Force India could continue their rise up the table, and Renault will have to work hard to achieve another victory over the up and coming Indian team.