Hulkenberg ‘unlikely to make it to end’ without late F1 pit stop
Nico Hulkenberg would have been “unlikely” to make it to the end of Formula 1’s 70th Annivers🔯ary Grand Prix without his late pit stop after suffering severe🎃 vibrations.
After starring in qualifying to land third on the grid at Silverstone, Hulkenberg looked set to seal a top-five finish in his first F1 race since the 2019 season finale in Abu Dhabi until he made an unschedul꧒ed third stop with eight laps to go.
The 32-year-old subsequently dropped behind Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll to finish seventh as the Silverstone-based outfit claimed a strong double ജpoints haul.
After the race, Racing Point expla꧟ined the reason behind Hulkenberg’s third stop.
“Nico reported a significant vibration towards the end of the race, hence the call to pit him a third time,” a Racing Point spokesperson🧸 said. “Unlikely to have made the flag wꦡithout it.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hulkenberg ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚsaid he doubts his tyres would have lasted until the end of the race after the vibrations “skyrocketed” in the closing la🥂ps.
"We w🐼ere kind of forced to pit♐ off the prime set," Hulkenberg explained.
🔥"I think we got a couple of nice big blisters on both rear tyres. The vibration just gets so quickly out of hand that within two, three laps, it just skyrocketed.
"I don't think the ൲tyre would have survived to the end. It was a pity. First half of the race was very under controlღ, very managed.
"The second I got onto the second prime set, that just felt like a different set of tyres, a different co൲mpound, and it just didn't work in the end."
Given his race rustiness, Hulkenberg says he expects to feel “a bit sore” in the coming days after completing his fir🅰st full grand prix race distance in over seven months.
"Luckily these cars have the headrest qui🦹te close, so I could rest my head a lot," Hulkenberg said.
"The whole body, back muscles, even th꧒e seat is quite tight around the glutes. I'm definitely going to be a bit sore tomorrow morning.
"It was a quiet race, no big fighting, no safety💜 cars, but I'm actually quite grateful. I'm glad it wasn't too action-packed, because it was enough as it was probably."
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