Breaking news
Formula 1 Brazilian GP
Hulkenberg: Brazil crash result of "small error"
Renault Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg says his heavy Brazilian Grand Prix practice shunt was the result of a “small error”.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Nov 9, 2018, 8:35 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hulkenberg crashed on exit of Turn 12, Juncao, a few minutes into the second free practice session of the day, clipping the grass and veering into the wall, which demolished the right side of his RS18.
“I ran a bit too wide at the exit of the last corner,” Hulkenberg said. “I took a little bit too much kerb there, wanted a bit too much probably.
“The car bottomed out, and from there it was done, I was a passenger. Once I bottomed out, that pulled me off the track onto the grass, obviously no grip in the grass.
“It was inevitable from there that I would hit the wall.
“Happened pretty fast, small error but a lot of damage, so, yeah, not a great afternoon.”
Hulkenberg struggled with the balance on his car throughout the day, but didn't consider this as a major factor in the accident.
“I mean, the balance is challenging around here, especially the last corner is always difficult - you know, when you have done a complete lap, the tyres are pretty hot and the grip is a bit less in the final corner, that makes it always a tough corner.
“But no, I've been running on the kerb before, it was just a tad too much [that time].”
The crash meant the German had logged just six laps in the afternoon session, as he missed out on the usual mid-FP2 qualifying simulation runs as well as the standard high-fuel mileage.
Despite this, Hulkenberg reckoned that it wouldn't be too big a setback for his aspirations at Interlagos, as he feels very well acquainted with the car by this point in the season.
“I mean, it's not great to miss the long runs, to miss the short-run performance, but I'm quite confident that it won't hamper my weekend too much,” he insisted.
“We're quite advanced into the season, I know this car inside out and how it reacts, I think we're still in good shape.”
Both Hulkenberg and teammate Carlos Sainz finished outside of the top 10 in first practice, and the Spaniard could do no better than 14th in the afternoon.
“It looked a bit difficult today as well. I think the pace is not quite as good, as strong as in Austin or Mexico.
“The car doesn't feel as together as it did the previous weekends. I think you could see that on the timesheets, we didn't look as competitive.
“Obviously we'll try to find some speed overnight but I expect a challenging weekend ahead.”
Additional reporting by Edd Straw
Car of Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18 being recovered after crashing in FP2
Photo by: Jerry Andre / Sutton Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vettel: Loose screw prompted cheeky radio joke
Next article F1 chiefs join drivers in meeting over sport’s future
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
Mar 13, 2020
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Mar 12, 2020
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General Mar 11, 2020
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Nico Hulkenberg
"Colapinto never hit the apex" – Audi's take on contentious Nico Hulkenberg penalty in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 d
"Colapinto never hit the apex" – Audi's take on contentious Nico Hulkenberg penalty in Brazilian GP
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 mo
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
More from
Renault F1 Team
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
14 d
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
21 d
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
41 min
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe