Hülkenberg: The changes in F1 in 2014 made life easier for rookies

Transferred this season from Sauber to Force India, Nico Hülkenberg is having a good first half of the season by ranking 7th in the drivers’ championship with 69 points and scoring points in the first 10 Grand Prix of the year. He discusses the case of the F1 newcomers: Kevin Magnussen at McLaren, Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso, and Marcus Ericsson at Caterham. The first two named have managed to achieve satisfactory results.

Magnussen managed to hold his own against Jenson Button by outqualifying him 5 times in 11 sessions, while Kvyat achieved the same score against Jean-Éric Vergne.

Upon his arrival in F1, Hülkenberg had just clinched the GP2 championship title in 2010 but had to struggle to assert himself against veteran Rubens Barrichello at the time with Williams. According to the former Sauber driver, who spoke to *Autosport*, the new Formula 1 cars for this season may have contributed to making the new drivers more comfortable: « I wonder if it has not become easier to enter Formula 1 as a rookie with the new regulations and the way the cars are currently »

He compares things to his first season: « I’m not sure. It’s quite obvious with Kvyat, Magnussen – a lot of young drivers arrive and immediately outperform their teammates and do great things. I’m not saying they’re bad drivers – they are pretty good drivers, I think. But I remember when I came in, my first year as a rookie was a bit more difficult. »

The German supports the fact that this season’s regulation has put everyone on an equal footing: « I don’t know if they are just better or if things have become easier. If you are a driver who has been in F1 for 10 years then yes, experience is a very good thing to have, but maybe some of that experience is no longer as useful now, so part of that advantage has disappeared because of this [the regulatory change]. »

On the same topic, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat also shared their opinions. The Frenchman accepts the regulatory changes that, according to him, have helped balance the competition between drivers this year, as he told the British publication: “I believe the regulatory change has leveled the playing field for all drivers, and it’s a completely different car this year. This year’s cars are totally different to drive – ask a few drivers and they will tell you they’re having a hard time. So, I think it’s a good year for rookies to come into F1.”

This season, Daniil Kvyat became the youngest driver to score points in F1 during his debut in Australia. He admitted to *Autosport* that the new regulations allowed him to be immediately on pace this year, but he believes that new drivers have a lot to learn: « There are many things in Formula 1 that I still need to learn, like aerodynamic downforce and car settings for the race and so on. There are many things to set up: pressures, wings, balance and so on. For me, it’s going in the right direction. »