The Formula One driver market will always spring a few surprisesand Nico Hulkenberg's move to Renault from Force India may have left a number of you scratching yourheads thinking why the German decided to move to the French team.
Renault has had a difficult season this yearafter they took over the branded Lotus team. However, the deal for Renault to come back into FormulaOne as works team took longer than the French manufacturer would have liked, which meant that development on their 2016 car was severely affected due to time constraints.
Now, with Renaultbeing a works team, their budget for the 2017 season and beyond will be far greater than the independent teams such as Williams, Force India and Sauber.
Nico Hulkenberg may have seen that with Renault having a significant size budget to spend on their 2017, that the team could move back to the sharp end of the grid where it won two drivers and constructors championships in 2005 and 2006.
However, even with the French manufacturer having more money spend next season and beyond, Hulkenberg knows that the team won't move from the back of the grid to the front of the grid in one season just because the team will have an increased budget.
It takes a considerable amount of time to take a team from the back of the field to the front. It took Red Bull Racing five years to become a race-winning team. The Austrian team started in 2005 and won their first race at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel.
It also took Mercedes five years to start their dominant era in Formula One. Mercedes rejoined the sport in 2010, taking their first win in 2012 with Nico Rosberg but didn't have a dominant car until 2014.
With Hulkenberg now being 29-years old, and despite his incredible talent has yet to step on the podium in Formula One.
His move to Renault may see him wait until his early thirties to step on the podium in Formula One for the first time.
That is assuming that he does not score a podiumthroughout the remainder of this season with Force India and that Renaultwill be able to give the German a car that can challenge for podium positions in the future.
One thing is for sure; it would be a great shame if Hulkenberg finisheshis Formula One career without a podium to name despite being one of the most talented drivers on the grid.
However, that is the risk Hulkenberg is taking with Renault. The chances of him winning races with Force India are small, but moving to a works team could give him the opportunity of being a race winner in Formula One, which the German so desperately wants.
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