Nico Hulkenberg (P13): 6.5/10
At the start of the season it looked like Nico Hulkenberg had the upper hand over his celebrated new Renault team mate Daniel Ricciardo, but as the season has progressed the balance of power has shifted somewhat. Monaco turned the screws again on the German: while the two were very evenly matched throughout practice, it was Ricciardo who pulled out something extra to make it through to the final round of qualifying while Hulkenberg just missed out by less than a tenth. And then in the race, he was on the receiving end of an overly opportunistic move from Charles Leclerc which left him with a puncture through little fault of his own. He was forced to pit for new tyres before the safety car was deployed, and ended up at the back of the field. Once he cleared some of the congestion he actually showed some decent pace in the latter half of the race, but by then it was too late to really show what the R.S.19 could do. Meanwhile Ricciardo went on to steal the limelight with a top ten finish to rub salt into the Hulk's wounds.
