Nico Hulkenberg has his third different team mate in as many seasons at Renault. But Daniel Ricciardo has proved a tougher prospect than either Carlos Sainz Jnr or Jolyon Palmer before him.

It took Ricciardo a few races to get comfortable in the Renault. On top of that the team had several technical problems, notably a double retirement in Bahrain. Some problems remain: Ricciardo was forced out in Germany, while Hulkenberg had to cope with a race-long engine problem in Hungary.

However neither driver can be pleased with the team’s progress, or lack of, so far this year. Having placed fourth behind the ‘big three’ in 2018, Renault aimed to reduce its deficit to the front runners this year. Instead the midfield have caught them up. Renault have been ‘best of the rest’ just twice, both times courtesy of Ricciardo.

Hulkenberg’s disappointment reflects not just the team’s situation this season, but its overall trend since he joined them after 2016.

“I think it’s fair to say that so far this season we can’t be entirely happy with what we have achieved,” he said. “I mean, to start with we had a lot of issues and missed out on results. But, a little bit more disappointing is just where we are in terms of pace, the development rate, it’s not where we really needed it and wanted it to be.

“Behind the expectations this year, so probably maybe, all in all, as well, not entirely happy and if you look across the three years we can’t be entirely happy with everything we’ve done.”

However Hulkenberg brought criticism upon himself after his race-ending crash in the German Grand Prix. The team’s biggest opportunity for a major points haul so far this year was lost when Hulkenberg ran onto the treacherous run-off between the final two corners and skidded into a barrier.

Until that point, he had run impressively well on a slippery track. “There’s a trend in my career in this kind of conditions that I feel comfortable, I’m coping quite well with those conditions, I like them and I’m fast,” he said. “So it was definitely one of the very good efforts up to then.”

Had he converted the opportunity, he could have gone into the summer break leading Ricciardo on points. The latter spoiled his chance of points in Hungary with an unnecessary incident in Q1. As it is, Ricciardo is ahead on every count, though by fairly modest margins.

Hulkenberg’s Germany crash was another of those occasions which made you wonder just how many near-misses with the podium Hulkenberg is going to have. And how many more opportunities to take one Renault is going to offer him.

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Daniel Ricciardo vs Nico Hulkenberg: Key stats

Daniel Ricciardo vs Nico Hulkenberg: Who finished ahead at each round

AUS BAH CHI AZE SPA MON CAN FRA AUT GRE GER HUN Daniel Ricciardo Q R Nico Hulkenberg Q R

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Daniel Ricciardo vs Nico Hulkenberg: Qualifying gap

Times based on the last qualifying round at each race weekend in which both drivers set a time

2019 F1 season