The impressive number behind Hulkenberg's F1 race return

Nico Hulkenberg was on for a strong result in the 70th Anniversary GP before a late stop for safety reasons rather ruined that scenario. But, along with his spectacular qualifying, he showed something that should keep him in the frame for another F1 return.

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Something had to have gone badly wrong for any driver to have had the soft Pirelli tyres fitted to their car during the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

The red-walled rubber was so fragile the Mercedes drivers discarded it for their final runs in Q3, preferring to have their tyres still delivering satisfactory grip come final turns of the Silverstone lap. These were not tyres to try and race on, despite the coronavirus cost-saving rules meaning all drivers had eight sets of them going into the weekend.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.