Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Hulkenberg more confident after Le Mans win

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Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley says he could see more confidence in Nico Hulkenberg following his Le Mans victory.

Hulkenberg delivered an impressive performance throughout the Austrian Grand Prix weekend to give Force India its first top six finish of the season, helping move the team up to fifth in the constructors’ championship. With the result coming a week after Hulkenberg’s success at Le Mans, Fernley told F1i his driver has gained more confidence in his own talent.

“I don’t think we ever had any doubts about Nico’s ability,” Fernley said. “What Le Mans did was only endorse what we’ve always believed he’s capable of. So there’s no surprises for us for Nico.

“I think what it’s done is given him confidence, which is when you go for a period of time perhaps without getting the recognition you should do, or maybe the moves that you would like to get, then you start to question yourself. Le Mans probably helped him more than it did in terms of questioning our own belief in him.”

And Fernley says it is now down to Force India to capitalise on Hulkenberg’s form by providing him with machinery to exploit his potential.

“There was a bounce in his step. I think it would be wrong to say there wasn’t a bounce in his step. I think that’s wonderful to have and hopefully we can reward him with a car that he can really use from Silverstone onwards.”

Click here for the gallery of Raikkonen and Alonso's crash at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.