Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg had his first brush with cricket last year, when he came to India to watch an IPL match in Bengaluru. The German race car driver is back here to watch the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team owned by his F1 boss, Vijay Mallya.
Hulkenberg, who fell in love with fast cars at the age of seven, joined the Indian based F1 team in 2011 as a test and reserve driver. Since then, he’s made several trips to India; he hopes to explore the cricket-mad country on this visit.
As RCB prepare to take on the Pune Warriors India at the Chinnaswamy, Hulkenberg told iplt20.com how the new sport in his life had given him an insight into motor racing.
“I was here exactly the same time last year to watch an RCB match. In Germany, cricket is quite unknown. It’s all about football, F1 and those sports back home. [Last year] was an introduction to cricket for me. There were around 30,000 people in the stadium cheering for their team, there was loud music and I was really impressed with the atmosphere there.”
“It’s two different pairs of shoes. In cricket, football, tennis or as an athlete, you see everything around you, the crowd, the atmosphere and everything. You hear the noise, see some reactions. For us, we get into the car and put our helmet on. The engine is very noisy and it is a bit different. But every now and then we also get a little bit of a look at the grandstand, especially when the race is finished, and see whether it is full or empty. So, yes, it is very different in that regard.”
Hulkenberg, who fell in love with fast cars at the age of seven, joined the Indian based F1 team in 2011 as a test and reserve driver. Since then, he’s made several trips to India; he hopes to explore the cricket-mad country on this visit.
As RCB prepare to take on the Pune Warriors India at the Chinnaswamy, Hulkenberg told iplt20.com how the new sport in his life had given him an insight into motor racing.
“I was here exactly the same time last year to watch an RCB match. In Germany, cricket is quite unknown. It’s all about football, F1 and those sports back home. [Last year] was an introduction to cricket for me. There were around 30,000 people in the stadium cheering for their team, there was loud music and I was really impressed with the atmosphere there.”
“It’s two different pairs of shoes. In cricket, football, tennis or as an athlete, you see everything around you, the crowd, the atmosphere and everything. You hear the noise, see some reactions. For us, we get into the car and put our helmet on. The engine is very noisy and it is a bit different. But every now and then we also get a little bit of a look at the grandstand, especially when the race is finished, and see whether it is full or empty. So, yes, it is very different in that regard.”
