Carlos Sainz is hunting for tips and tricks from Nico Hulkenberg to figure out how to improve his own qualifying form, the Spaniard admitted.
Hulkenberg got sixth place twice and seventh place once since the start of the season, while Sainz got 10th, 11th and ninth places.
Sainz was the one to set the fastest lap for Renault to date. But, the German has outdone his teammate in every qualifying race this season.
Speaking of his teammate, Sainz said: “For sure, Nico is very strong in qualifying,”
“I think he has always been. Probably with this car even more. He understands it very well.
“You could already see it when I arrived in the team last year, he has these little tricks, little things that make him go very, very fast in qualifying, which I’m still discovering and adapting.
“In Melbourne, I was half a second clear of him in qualifying in Q2. The other two races, I was a bit behind, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
Explaining the reason for Hulkenberg’s pace, the Spaniard said: “For me, that is no surprise. He also has a year of experience with the car. That is helping him to arrive and have the race of last year to know how the car reacted to changes, to driving style, et cetera.
“He is a bloody fast guy, and on top of that, he is very experienced. You can see it, all the time he is on track, he is on it. 15I’m still in my fourth year, but still learning a lot of stuff from the car at the same time. And I’m catching up little by little.
“It’s a 21-race year. We have done three. In one of them, I have been the faster car. So I am not worried at all.”
