Hulkenberg predicts “surprises” from Renault in 2017

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In the round-up: Nico Hulkenberg says Renault could surprise people in their ‘year of transition’.

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A worthwhile reminder about the need to be careful with translated quotes:

“‘Rosberg could have quietly told me that he would quit if he won the title,’ Hulkenberg jokingly told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.”

Now that I’ve read the original article, I know where that ‘quietly’ comes from. Hülkenberg said in German: ‘Er hätte mir ruhig mal was sagen können’. The word ‘ruhig’ can indeed be translated as ‘quietly’ – sometimes. However, in this sentence, ‘ruhig’ is used as a so-called modal particle ‘reflecting the mood or attitude of the speaker or narrator, and highlighting the sentence focus […] effect is often vague and dependent on the overall context’).

Like the article says, its exact meaning is extremely difficult to express in another language. It serves to indicate a certain frustration, disappointment, or exasperation felt by the speaker, but it is also very often used ironically, typically in lighthearted, colloquial situations, as a way of saying: ‘I know there’s a reason why something didn’t go my way, but come on!’.

Yes, all that meaning can be hidden in such a tiny word as ‘ruhig’, which isn’t as ‘quiet’ as it seems…
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “Hulkenberg predicts “surprises” from Renault in 2017”

  1. At least we know Renault will finish in the top 10.

    1. I said that a bit quick. Now we’re not sure Renault will finish at all.

  2. Rossi in the Mercedes would probably be a disaster, not only for MotoGP, but for Rossi’s career and F1.

    It’s far too late for him to switch. He’s still one of the best motorbike riders, but that’s largely because he’s been doing it for his entire life. Driving a car requires a completely different approach and indeed many different skills. There are similarities, such as having awareness on track, and having racecraft. However, that’s about it. It’s far too late for such a switch, Rossi wouldn’t pick it up immediately, and if he did eventually become competitive, there’s a fair chance he would be too old.

    It would be a disaster because Rossi would be slow. Rossi would end his career having failed at something new, after having won so much in MotoGP. The initial headlines would put Mercedes on the front pages of the papers, maybe, but Mercedes would go on to look foolish for picking him, meanwhile it would be a classic case of something in F1 getting bigged up, only to be a disappointment. Hamilton would dominate the year and that would be that.

    Nothing but an ideology, sadly.

    1. Dunno why but only one name comes to my mind after that: Michael Andretti.

      1. @carlitox and sadly, Alex Zanardi. Big name champion, everything they touch turns to gold… until they sit in an F1 car.

    2. @strontium: I mostly agree, but the name John Surtees springs to mind….

      1. @jimg, the thing is, Surtees is not necessarily a great comparison as he switched across from motorcycles to cars at a much earlier stage in his career. Surtees was 26 when he switched from motorcycle racing, whereas Rossi is coming up to his 38th birthday in a few weeks time – in some ways, it could argued that Surtees was only able to make the switch because he cut short his career in motorcycle racing.

  3. “Max is very, very good – and he’s so enthusiastic about everything. He’s like a Labrador puppy that just wants to get into everything”

    Yes. Because that is how I want to be remembered when I think of myself as a young, potential, viral, aggressive F1 driver. A Labrador puppy.
    ‘Getting into everything’ is not always a winning situation though.

    1. Getting into a economyseat aint a winning position but i dont see how its a bad thing not being a primadonna.

    2. I think the reference with the Labrador puppy is meant to stress his relentless inquisitivity and not to extend to other doglike qualities.

  4. Wow, these guys travel only buisness class, and then they talk about costs. They are sportsmen, they can travel anyhow.

    1. Most of them actually travel on private planes. Business class travel is the very least a top business person (like team top brass) or an elite sportsperson (like F1 drivers) will expect. Things like that are factored into the cost of going racing…and doing business generally.

    2. Travelling business class reduces fatigue considerably. The extra cost of business class is essentially an investment in performance, and minor in the grand scheme of drivers’ salaries and on-costs.

    3. @illusive not only do they charter private planes, as @geemac says, but they often charter them together to save money. I believe we often saw Ricciardo, Rosberg, Coulthard, Hulkenberg and Massa, among others, on a Learjet together, heading too and from races.

  5. Shame the Arrows is available AFTER christmas or i’d have put it on my wishlist :-)

    1. @bascb I’m sure we can have a whip around some of our fellow Fanatics – if we all chip in a tenner that will be enough won’t it?! Then we can just share it around each weekend, I’d be happy with that :)

  6. That article about Zetsche and getting a call from Toto is quite telling. The past couple of seasons Hamilton has been saying he isn’t keeping score on the stats etc and here we have the head of Mercedes saying the complete opposite.
    The MOST telling is that just getting a call from Toto meant he thought it was something like “What has Lewis done this time”. I can’t wait for the day all the truth comes out about the past 3 years, i don’t care whos in the right / wrong. I just want to know.

  7. The hulk talks a lot these days after joining Renault. I hope Renault does not turns out to be a dud, otherwise he will come back to force India.

  8. Hulkenberg predicts “surprise” from Renault in 2017

    That title couldn’t be any more relevent today @keithcollantine, as team boss Frédéric Vasseur leaves the Renault F1 squad ahead of the 2017 season.

    1. My thoughts to @jeff1s, probably not the surprise he’d meant!

      1. LOL. You guys bet me to it.

  9. Interesting admission in the Verstappen article: “And there were times in 2016 when things did get difficult – like at the Hungarian Grand Prix when a pre-race agreement – that the Red Bull driver running second would drop back to hold the field up and help the lead car get away – fell by the wayside.”

  10. The big surprise is the next excuse for why Renault is behind the other teams…HUL got the seat but didn’t know there was a manement issue.. as long the manegement war is raging they won’t win anything…

  11. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that that post could become CotD. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if anyone would bother reading it …
    But I’m not complaining, not at all! Thanks, @keithcollantine, and thank you for revamping the comment a little bit, it needed just that. :-)

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