Why Renault is Hulkenberg's last-chance saloon

Stagnant. That's the only word you can use to describe Nico Hulkenberg's grand prix career right now. But moving to Renault can revitalise it - if he is willing to embrace what will be a long-haul challenge.

Hulkenberg has been doing a good job for Force India, no question, but no more than that. Team-mate Sergio Perez has been the more effective performer at that team during their two-and-a-bit seasons together, to the tune of an extra 46 points.

Hulkenberg should be doing better than that. He is better than that. That's not to do down Perez, who is also a fine grand prix driver and has bounced back remarkably from his McLaren nightmare, but it simply reflects just how good Hulkenberg could, should, be.

So why isn't he? It's a good question and the answers don't necessarily reflect that well on a driver who is enormously quick and has, or at least had, the ability to do a very good job in a top car.

Before Renault came along, Hulkenberg seemed to have become a time server in the upper midfield. Frustrated at missing out on top seats several times, including at Ferrari, you have to ask whether his motivation took a hit.

Was it coincidence that one of his stronger spells during the past few years in F1 was immediately after the boost of winning the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours? It certainly raises a provocative red flag. This won't be a conscious decision, but drivers are human beings and subject to the mental frailties that can afflict us all.

Whatever the cause, Hulkenberg has slipped down the pecking order of targets for big teams and, at 29, he's in danger of being cast as a journeyman. After all, he has 111 starts under his belt with only a trio of fourth places to show for it, and is on target to break Adrian Sutil's record for grands prix without a podium finish (128) next year.

Fortunately for him, Renault offers the rare combination of tremendous potential with what is currently poor performance. A Renault that was fighting at the front wouldn't sign Hulkenberg, it would chase a proven winner. But while it is towards the back and needs an established lead driver, that is good news for someone who still has a huge amount to offer.

This combination of circumstances is what could carry Hulkenberg to his dream place at the front of the grid, an opportunity that seemed to have passed him by.

Let's ignore the question of whether or not Renault can fulfil that potential and assume, for the purposes of this assessment of Hulkenberg, that it will be in a position to win races three or four years down the line.

That means the demands on Hulkenberg are very clear. First, he has to stick at it through what will probably be a difficult 2017 season, work his way up the grid with the team and convince it, by maximising every opportunity, that he is the driver to lead it back to the promised land.

In short, he has to show that he hasn't become a journeyman and that he's willing and able to drag the maximum out of a car that might not be that strong at every single weekend to begin with.

Secondly, he has to show that he can galvanise a team around him and establish himself as the main man. This is an area that some rival team bosses have had reservations about, so it is arguably the bigger challenge for Hulkenberg.

Considering the evidence of the past few seasons, those are big questions to answer.

But first, the positives. Hulkenberg is capable of being a stunningly quick racing driver and of delivering outstanding race performances. He can no longer be described as a young star of great potential, as he's more a middle-aged driver, in career terms, of unfulfilled promise - but the skillset that once made him one for the future surely remains.

His pole position for Williams at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix remains one of the most remarkable of recent times. Yes, he needed damp conditions to deliver it, but this wasn't simply a case of last over the line having the best of the conditions, for his second-best lap in the Q3 shootout was also good enough for pole.

Then there was the fight for victory with Force India at the same venue in 2012, which came to an end when Hulkenberg hit Lewis Hamilton while attempting to take the lead. That was his error, but his staggering pace on slicks in the damp conditions in the first part of the race, when he and Jenson Button pulled out a gigantic lead prior to the safety car eliminating it, was testament to his skill.

Then there were the fine performances with Sauber in the second half of 2013; particularly his run to fourth in the Korean Grand Prix under pressure variously from Fernando Alonso, who described Hulkenberg's drive as "superb".

So, if the most impressive career performances stretch back three or more years, what does that say about Hulkenberg in more recent times? Looking at 2016 as an example, there have been some decent performances: Monaco, Germany, Belgium and Japan were all strong. But he has been inconsistent for too long and there just seem to be times when he checks out.

This seems to be the big problem for Hulkenberg during the 1.6-litre V6 turbo-and-ERS era. As far back as 2014, there were concerns within Force India over whether Hulkenberg was delivering as consistently as a driver of his level should be. Again, while the results were good enough, this wasn't the Hulkenberg of the previous seasons.

It's true that the current era of F1 doesn't suit him well. He was among the drivers worst hit by the need to manage the rear tyres, and the extra fuel management demands - as well as the increased torque (and weight) - of this generation of cars didn't help that.

While Hulkenberg did plenty of work on rear tyre management and learned plenty from Perez's excellence in this area, it's not something he's delighted about having to do. But the driver's job is to get the maximum out of the package, and that is what Renault will be expecting Hulkenberg to do.

The effectiveness of the majority of grand prix drivers at their peak will be in a very similar ballpark. What makes, say, Alonso so effective is his relentlessness. Other than the few occasions when his attention wanes a little, for example at times during his second stint at Renault or when the McLaren-Honda has been particularly woeful, he generally gets the most out of the car.

So, can Hulkenberg? OK, frustration at not having the chance in a front-running car has eaten away at him. OK, the current regulations might mean he's not competing in his ideal type of grand prix racing. OK, he might feel he has the talent to merit race wins and a shot at the title if he is given the car to do so.

But none of that matters. What matters is the necessity of showing that, on top of the fundamental ability, he has the mindset to do the job long term.

You always want to see drivers capable of great performances fulfil their potential. Hulkenberg still has that potential, and at Renault he should have the chance to maximise it.

The change of scenery to a factory team, and the regulation changes to make the cars quicker and supposedly more demanding to drive, means that things could well be coming together for Hulkenberg for the next phase of F1 that starts in 2017.

Now he needs to show he has the motivation to match the means and opportunity.

If he does, and speaking as someone who has been hugely impressed by Hulkenberg as a driver over the years right back to his early days in cars, then Renault will have a formidable driver on its hands.