Source: RacePictures.com
F1 News
Hülkenberg on flip: "Looks spectacular but nothing dramatic"
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Renault's Nico Hülkenberg has insisted that his spectacular first-lap crash wasn't that dramatic, even though his car flipped multiple times before coming to a stand-still upside-down.
The German tried to send one down the inside of Haas driver Romain Grosjean in the first lap as they approached the chicane in turn 8 and turn 9, but he closed the Frenchman down too much heading into T9, leaving him nowhere to go. The Hulk clipped the front left tyre with his RS14 and he went flying, flipping multiple times in spectacular fashion.
“There is such a long build up and everybody is putting in the hard work over the weekend and then to be out on Lap 1 like this, and with a lot of damage to the car as well, it just feels bad," the 31-year-old was quoted by PlanetF1.
“Very disappointing but yeah, I think we have to put it down as a racing incident,” he responded whether is was his own fault or Grosjean's.
WATCH: HUGE crash for Hulkenberg at start of Abu Dhabi GP!
“[I was] racing Romain into Turn 8. We both locked up and I went really wide. He went even wider so I thought he ran off the track and I had Turn 9 to myself. That is why I took the apex.
“But obviously he was still there and our wheels made contact and the rest we have seen. A couple of flips which look spectacular but nothing really dramatic.”
After a quick medical check by the FIA's on-site doctors, he was confirmed to be uninjured.