Vasseur: Renault has signed a “real leader” in Hulkenberg

By Oct 17, 2016, 11:30 AM EDT
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Renault Sport F1 team principal Frederic Vasseur has hailed new signing Nico Hulkenberg, calling the German a “real leader” in a Q&A with the team’s official website heading into the United States Grand Prix weekend.

Hulkenberg was freed from his contract at Sahara Force India last week and signed with Renault in a multi-year deal.

While Hulkenberg hasn’t measured up, points-wise, to Sergio Perez in the pair of drivers’ three years with Force India, many still rate Hulkenberg as one of the overall top talents on the grid.

And with Renault, he looks set to enter in 2017 as clear team leader, while the identity of his teammate gets sorted.

“Nico is one of the drivers that has really made his mark, with in particular a GP2 title in his first year in the series. Only three drivers have done this so far: Nico, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton,” Vasseur told the official Renault website. “He has succeeded in everything in his career to date, including Le Mans.

“He is also a real leader and able to motivate a team and take the troops with him.

“He has a lot of experience and is very fast; that is very important for us in this stage of our development. From a technical perspective, an experienced and conscientious driver can give precious feedback as well as knowing exactly what they want from the car.

“This allows the team to work fast and efficiently. We are really happy to have him with us.”

Vasseur also hailed the recent performance improvements of the Renault RS16, as both Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer have scored in recent rounds in Singapore and Malaysia. They’ve edged ahead of Toro Rosso and are fighting McLaren, so they’ve been better in recent races, albeit not fully where they need to be.

“In Japan we overtook Toro Rosso and McLaren and were much closer to Williams than we have been in the past, so we have raised our level in the race,” he said.

“What is clear is that we need to improve in qualifying to have a stronger baseline with which to start the race, and then hopefully the results will follow.”

Renault – as Lotus – scored in last year’s mixed wet-dry United States Grand Prix when Pastor Maldonado came home in eighth place.

IndyCar Power Rankings: Pato O’Ward moves to the top entering Texas Motor Speedway

By Mar 29, 2023, 6:00 AM EDT
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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17th after qualifying 14th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)