Perez ruled out, Hülkenberg steps in again

Following his unexpected appearance at last weekend’s British Grand Prix, Nico Hülkenberg will once again get a chance to get behind the wheel of Racing Point’s RP20.

The German driver got an unexpected call from Racing Point Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer last Thursday after the team’s regular driver Sergio Perez had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Silverstone-based team put everything quickly in place concerning the administration side of the driver change.

However, the 32-year-old was unable to start on race day after a bolt in his Mercedes gearbox failed right ahead of the installation laps for the British Grand Prix.

While Racing Point was keen to bring Perez back into action for this weekend’s race, the Mexican has returned a positive result, and he will continue to follow the guidance of Public Health England. He is physically well and recovering.

After completing in various stints as a test and race driver between 2011-2016 for the Silverstone-based team, Hülkenberg is excited to get another outing this weekend.

“I’m excited to get going again with the team at Silverstone. Last weekend, it was a real step into the unknown having been away from the team for a few years – and driving a car I’d never driven before. I’ve learned a lot in the last week about the RP20, and I am ready to apply my experiences to this weekend.

„Racing at the same track again makes things a bit easier and the team has done a great job in helping me get up to speed. I think we can fight for points this weekend, which is definitely my goal. I also want to wish Checo all the best in his recovery.”

Otmar Szafnauer said: “Nico did a really strong job last weekend after receiving a last-minute call to drive for us at Silverstone, and he proved why he was an obvious choice to stand in for Checo.

„It was a big shame he couldn’t actually take the start of the race last Sunday, but the all that hard work will prove very useful for this weekend. We miss having Checo with us, but we wish him well and look forward to welcoming him back into the team in the near future,” the American added.