Nico Hulkenberg has no regrets over his decision to leave Force India and join Renault for the 2017 season. After three consecutive seasons at Force India, the German decided to leave when approached by Renault who signed him to a multi-year deal.
2017 hasn't been a sore affair for Hulkenberg so far by any means, with the 29-year-old finishing inside the top ten on four occasions. In fact, Hulkenberg is only two points shy of his tally of this time last year, when he competed for a different team.
This season, however, Force India appear to be ahead of the midfield group that Renault finds itself locked in. So when asked if he regrets accepting a pay rise to drop clearly down the F1 pecking order, Hulkenberg insisted: "I did everything right.
"It was clear that it would be a small step back this year and that we could not beat Force India," he told the Austrian newspaper Kurier. "It was about the future, especially 2019 and 2020. I believe in the potential of this team and the fact that it represents a car with which I can compete for victories."
With wins firmly set in the mind of the one-time polesitter, Hulkenberg is not sure when they will start to come: "That is speculation," he said.
"Officially, the team says it wants to compete for wins in 2019, but there are no guarantees in Formula 1. There is only hard work, decisions, budgets, the right people. With this recipe, however, the team has everything to go to the top."
Fergal Walsh
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Agreed, Renault are more likely to be frontrunners than FI