Racing Point announced two days ago that Sergio Perez had tested positive for Corona. This means he is out for a 14 day quarantine period and will miss the next two races. Shows you the risk the teams have when they send the team home in between races. Surely it makes sense to just stay in your bubble for 3 or 4 months as everyone should just understand. This is your career with fortunes at stake for everyone involved. Racing Point will still be racing their second car with Nico Hulkenberg stepping in.
The truth is there are somewhat slim pickings on who would be available to fill in any driving seats. There seems to be a selection of 3 and some available last raced in 2016/17.Esteban Gutierrez and Stoffel Vandoorne never set the racing scene alight when they were driving and then the other was Nico. Guttierz may not have renewed his licence and suggest he does as anything can still happen. When you have that as the extra drivers to pick from it is an obvious choice as Nico was with Renault last season. Must be being paid a small fortune as they really need him. Would make sense to put him on a retainer this year and hire him out as teams are surely going to need his services at some point over the next 10 races.
Depending on if any other drivers go down this season Nico could be the first driver driving for multiple teams in one season. Coming out of a semi retirement also shows other teams what he is still capable of so this is a shot in the arm for him. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Racing Point have a competitive car this year and Nico can show what he is capable of. This will all be new for him as this is a different set up entirely with a different steering wheel. The practice sessions will make things easier as he now needs track time and expect him to be more than competitive this weekend.
I think it shows you that a driver with some form of experience can come back and show some class. Nico should finish possibly top 5 and expect him to not be far off the podium if things go his way. It would be a shock if he finished in the top 3 and even that is not unimaginable. Lance Stroll who is racing points number one this weekend is under pressure having someone who is racing for his career.
Nico has been the forgotten man since last year and has been thrown back in the lime light. drivers complain that other teams have better cars and that they cannot perform as well so it will be interesting to say the least how Hulkenberg goes compared to everyone else.
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Find it funny that there are 18 corners yet only 4 braking points.
Silverstone is different to most tracks as there are only 4 braking points with Mercedes saying there are only 3 due to their superior down force. I just find it incredible that no braking is required and expect the tyres to come more into this one as keeping the tread and grip alive for longer will play a crucial role.
It was noticeable that Hulkenburg was not entirely flat out in some of the corners this morning during practice session one which is understandable. He has no idea what the car is capable of and why his times will drop the more he tests and pushes the car.
