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Wonderful opportunity
Daniel Kvyat after just an year in Formula one has landed a seat in a team that is perhaps the best of this decade. Kevin Magnussen despite being just 20 years old and only a Formula Renault 3.5 Champion gets a seat in Mclaren,the second most successful team on the grid. Mercedes have Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on long term contracts and Ferrari have two world champions in Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
Looking at this,for an aspiring future world champion, the only two possible way to get a seat in a car capable of competing at the sharp end of the grid is either to be associated with these big teams even before they step into F1 or showcase your talent in such a way that the bigwigs take notice and want to hire you come what may. Nico Hulkenberg is currently at the crossroads of a career that has promised and delivered a lot in terms of results and resources in hand, but has yet to get that final push, that elusive competitive seat in a big team which would propel him to the sharper end of the grid.
Positions in teams
“I can say that the boy has an unbelievable talent. So much about him already reminds me of Michael Schumacher.” That’s what Willi weber, Michael Schumacher’s manager had to say about Nico in 2007. Following on those words, Hulkenberg did make it to F1 in 2010 as a Williams driver and has impressed ever since. Be it driving the uncompetitive Williams to pole in gloomy conditions in Sau Paulo,Brazil in his very first season or be it almost getting a victory for the Force India team in Sau Paulo again in 2012 or the way he beat the highly rated Paul Di Resta in Force India, or regularly punching above his weight in an uncompetitive sauber throughout the 2013 season.
Hulkenberg has always delivered the goods time and again, but despite toiling away in the midfield and punching above his weight, he has seen Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen being picked above him for the teams at the sharper end of the grid for Mclaren and Ferrari(though both proved to be a dud selection and hulk even beat perez this year in the same car,outscoring him 96 to 59 points.). And looking at the current scenario there are precious few openings(if any) at the sharp end of the grid.
Red Bull have as a rule of thumb decided to pick the drivers from their own academy(and with Ricciardo,Kvyat and Verstappen in the ranks who can really blame them). Same goes for Mclaren who are looking to nurture their own talent rather than looking elsewhere. Mercedes have a stable lineup which will probably stay for some time. This leaves Ferrari where Vettel is on a long term contract with Kimi in the other seat with a slightly dubious future after his performance in 2014.
Perez overshadowed him
Having said that, 2014 cannot in any which way be considered to be a vintage Hulkenberg season. He started the season very well and had dominated Perez while wringing the neck of the car and delivering the results, but somewhere mid season around Hungarian Grand Prix, he started losing his touch a little. He struggled with the car balance and tyre wear in many races, while Perez who was seemingly nowhere in comparison during the start of the season started matching him in qualifying and got the better of him in races.
During the middle part of the season, Perez produced some amazing drives in Force India, while hulkenberg seemingly just made up the numbers. Be it the car, the lack of motivation for not getting a top drive,the direction the team took while bringing the upgrades,whatever it was, it went against Nico and he was found wanting in many races.
This dented some of the reputation that Hulkenberg had formed for himself in all these seasons because this was the first time someone in a same car was consistently providing better results than him.Though he did manage to get back into the groove and put in some great races in Japan,Abu Dhabi and Brazil. However, his reputation had taken a beating and now drivers like Ricciardo and Bottas are the ones who are looked at as the future World champions, not him.
Consistency is the key for Hulkenberg
For Hulkenberg, its been six years since he started in F1 and it is a long time for a driver to make it big in the world of F1. At 27, he is not getting any younger and with drivers like Ricciardo,Bottas,Kvyat,Verstappen,Magnussen,Vandoorne all younger than him he has to step up next year because another year or two in the midfield and these drivers will become a much more favourable choice and he might end up suffering the fate that fell on Nick Heidfeld.
Him getting picked is not in his hands, but what is in his hands is performing with the car that he has, and beating his teammate comprehensively.Day in and Day out. He has to string together a season that impresses Ferrari(Probably his only potential option right now unless things go hairy at Mercedes). Currently in the food chain of formula one, he arguably lies below Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas , he has to arguably make the jump above Bottas at least to put himself in a favourable position in case a Ferrari seat comes calling.
In Force India, he has a team that should deliver him a car that is capable of decent outings every race if not fight for the podiums and maybe that consistency is what might work for him because another season similar to the second half of 2014 could relegate Hulkenberg to the midfield for the duration of his career and that is something that maybe a talent like this doesn’t deserve.
