Renault still out of the game in Hungary
The descent into hell continues for the French team. 12th and 14th in Hungary, Renault's results are more than disappointing this season and clearly contrast with the expectations and resources deployed. It's the sixth time this season that Renault scores no points.
New disillusionment and once again questions arise within the French clan after a Hungarian Grand Prix that was borderline nightmarish for the team with the diamond emblem. Renault was supposed to bounce back after a German Grand Prix equally devoid of any points.
It is clear that the Hungarian weekend was a series of poor performances. After very average qualifying sessions, Nico Hülkenberg 11th and Daniel Ricciardo 18th, the following day did not bode well. The Australian even started last on the grid following a power unit change.
Renault decided to switch ‘Smily Danny’ to a reverse strategy for the race. Since the pace wasn’t there, the strategy might make a difference. Unfortunately, even that didn’t allow Ricciardo to make up positions. The only positive aspect of the Perth native’s race was his long resistance at the beginning of the race against Valtteri Bottas and his short battle with him. Despite all his overtaking against drivers like Lance Stroll and George Russell, the result is that the former Red Bull driver finished 14th and out of the points.
LAP 55/70
The badger’s smelt the honey – Ricciardo’s all over Magnussen, both on a one-stop down in P14 and 15#F1 🇭🇺 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/kmVuSMO0LB
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 4, 2019
On Nico Hülkenberg’s side, the situation isn’t much brighter. Hoping a very long stint on mediums would allow him to avoid traffic during his second stint, the German quickly realized he was losing too much time and, no matter how fast he was on softs, points seemed impossible to reach as the laps went by. Having only managed to overtake Daniil Kvyat throughout the race, driver number 27 must be wondering what the lack of performance of the RS19 is due to.
« We cannot claim to be happy with our positions on the grid, the speed of our car, and our situation. We are a factory team. On one hand, we have had several incidents, but on the other, the car’s performance and development pace leave much to be desired. »
Currently 6th in the constructors’ standings, Renault is 43 points behind McLaren, which holds the position of best of the rest. Even worse, the French team is 249 points behind Red Bull.
#HungarianGP 🏁@HulkHülkenberg P12@danielricciardo P14#RSspirit pic.twitter.com/p1Um2RJTaD
— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) August 4, 2019
