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'Something isn't right,' says a baffled Hulkenberg

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg was left scratching his head after Thursday afternoon's free practice run in Monaco, baffled by his RS17's lack of balance.

After an electronics issue in the morning session deprived the German of mileage, Hulkenberg ran consistently in FP2 albeit considerably off his expected pace, and without a clue why.

"I don't know, I can't tell you at this moment. I'm scratching my head as well," he said, ending the day all the way down in P17.

"I'm a bit surprised with the car and a balance that I found and the grip in P2, which is very poor and far away from what I expected it to be.

"So we need to really investigate what's going on, because I'm sure something is not right. It felt really poor out there, not just that I'm struggling with the balance a lot and confidence in the car, but also the grip from the tyres what we get seems really odd and poor.

"It's far from ideal that we missed P1, because now we are like one step behind or two steps behind, because had we found that out in the morning we could have reacted already big time before P2, trying to fight it. We did not have that opportunity, so it's going to be difficult."

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Hulkenberg's problems appeared to surface at the outset.

"Straight from first run I felt like I'm not going anywhere," he admitted.

"I wasn't even looking at my lap times initially, because I know they were terrible. You feel its just not there.

"Tricky day, so a bit of a challenge ahead of us."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.