Feedback from stand-in Hulkenberg inspired Racing Point F1 car's updates

Hulkenberg gave his views on the RP20 when he drove Sergio Perez's car at the British and 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekends in August.

That in turn fed into the team's development programme, the fruits of which have been seen in recent races as a new package came on stream, including changes to the suspension.

Ironically, those changes then made life difficult for Hulkenberg when he returned to the team for the Eifel GP as a last-minute replacement for Lance Stroll, as he had to adjust to a car that had changed substantially since he last sampled it.

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"Some of the developments that we put on the car were as a direct result of his feedback in Silverstone, which was really interesting - so his feedback after the race [Eifel GP] was very intriguing," said Green, when asked by Autosport about the changes.

"He mentioned things [at Silverstone] that he would like to be changed in the car, and how we go about setting the car up and the feel he gets from the car.

"And we made those changes after Silverstone, not expecting him ever to get back in the car again and drive it.

"But lo and behold, he does, and we get the feedback about the developments we made on the car, so that was really interesting, and really important."

Green agreed that Hulkenberg needed time to adapt to the modified car when he drove it at the Nurburgring.

"These sort of changes we're talking about, you can't adjust to them in four laps, which is basically what he had to do on Saturday afternoon," Green explained.

"He had four flying laps, and for him to adjust to the changes that we've made since Silverstone was going to be nigh on impossible.

"So he needed time in the car, which is what he didn't have, but by the end of the race, he'd had plenty of time in the car and his feedback was invaluable, which was very good."

Green said that Hulkenberg was able to confirm that the team had made the correct choices with the latest upgrades.

"Yes, effectively, [there's] still work to do but I think we made a good step in the right direction," he said.

"That is all part of the rear suspension and front suspension changes that we made, which were as a direct result of him driving the car in Silverstone.

"We pulled together all the updates that we planned to do into a significant update for the car.

"And that included front wing, front brake ducts, floor, rear wing endplates, and you can see the sidepods, bodywork, so that was the aerodynamic aspect.

"We did a lot of work on the internals of the rear suspension, and the way that the suspension works, to give us more flexibility, and more options on the rear suspension set-up.

"Also a change to the steering system, as well - all of those updates came between Mugello and Russia, really."

Having impressed during his stand-in appearances, including qualifying third for the 70th Anniversary GP, Red Bull has been linked to a possible Red Bull move if the team decides to drop Alex Albon.