Hulkenberg on Alonso: 'Think karma hit back out at him'

"Yeah, as you say, difficult from last. I was one of the guys stopping right on lap one when it was possible," Hulkenberg said of swapping full-wets for intermediates. "Picked up a few places, but then we were stuck in 15th, but also didn't really have the pace to come through. The weekend continues to be difficult and pretty bad."

Fighting with Alonso

At the start of the race, after his pit stop, Hulkenberg fought a duel with Alonso. The Aston Martin driver was fairly fierce and the man in the VF23 had to take a pass by steering his car off track for a while. "He enjoyed my turbulence and he pushed me off pretty aggressively in turn two and I think karma hit back out at him," he said of Alonso's subsequent exit.

Hulkenberg also complained about the spray and poor visibility. " I would say, these ground-effect cars have made it worse. Never known it to be that bad." Later on Sunday, he will also start the Belgian Grand Prix from last place. So points look set to be a difficult story, especially as the Haas F1 cars are still eating rubber, Hulkenberg acknowledged in the square after the sprint race.