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Hulkenberg "not fussed" about being team leader at Renault

Nico Hulkenberg says he is "not fussed" about being known as team leader at Renault this season and that it's "not so important".

Hulkenberg, who made his F1 debut with Williams back in 2010, switches to Renault this year after five seasons with Force India - punctuated by a year with Sauber in 2013. He will be paired with 2014 GP2 Champion Jolyon Palmer, the Briton having only made the step up to F1 in 2016. It means many will regard him as the lead driver, although Hulkenberg himself has rejected that label.

"To be honest that's not so important," Hulkenberg told Racer this week. "I think that's something that gets emphasised by the media, to lead the team. What does it mean, to lead the team?

"You want to be in front, you want to beat your teammate. If you lead or not, it doesn't matter."

"It's more important for me to help the team, to bring it forward, to develop it and then later on to develop for me," he added.

"That also means I have to beat my team-mate whoever that will be, both this year and beyond.

"But I'm not too fussed about the leader thing - I'm going to do my job and whoever is next to me is not really that important to me." 

Zdroj: crash.net