Nico Hulkenberg has revealed a power deployment issue in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix cost him the opportunity of challenging for fifth place.
Starting from Renault's best grid position since returning to Formula One as a full works team, Hulkenberg turned in an impressive drive to seal the French manufacturer's joint-best result of the season in sixth. The German lost out on fifth in the final few laps to the recovering Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, but reckons he could have held onto the position had he not encountered deployment-related problems.
"I lost some engine power or deployment right in the last couple of laps when Daniel was closing in and attacking me," Hulkenberg explained. "I lost power and straight line speed, so that was a bit unfortunate. Perhaps otherwise I could have held onto fifth place. It is what it is and we should be happy with what we've done."
Renault was boosted by the introduction of a floor upgrade at Silverstone, which Hulkenberg believes was key to the team's "well deserved" result.
"This weekend it was the floor," he said. "It was definitely a big step forward for us. This high speed nature of track suits the car a lot more. I feel very comfortable and confident around here usually so I think the combination allowed for a very decent result. Therefore eight points were well deserved and everyone happy.
"I am delighted. Barcelona was also P6 but it was a lucky one because everybody crashed out of my way, but here today we did it on merit. We had good pace, the team did a great job all weekend long. A good team effort and we got rewarded for it."
There were contrasting fortunes in the other side of the Renault garage, with the under-pressure Jolyon Palmer forced out of his home race before it had even begun due to a hydraulic leak on the formation lap. The Briton, who is yet to score a point this season, was left frustrated he was unable to capitalise on one of his strongest qualifying performances of 2017.
"I'm gutted," Palmer said. "Second best qualifying of the year, starting just outside of the points, we had really good race pace this weekend as well. The car was working well. It was the race to have a great shot at getting those points but it's another problem. Nothing else to say really, just gutted. It was a hydraulic leak on the formation lap."