Nico Hulkenberg reveals 'Tony Hawk' move after surprise F1 'coverage'

Nico Hulkenberg has joked that his strong eighth-place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix came with a "Tony Hawk" move as he defeated George Russell.

Hulkenberg banked his best result of the season for Audi at Marina Bay with eighth place, with these four points following on from the two he scored in the Sprint for a total haul of six - almost doubling his previous tally of seven for the season.

The result gave the team some breathing room over Williams in eighth in the constructors, with the gap now 11 points in Audi's favour, as Hulkenberg fended off a challenge from Mercedes' Russell in the final stint as the Briton tried to overcome a back-of-the-grid engine penalty.

However, Russell could not get past the German, with Hulkenberg describing how Liam Lawson in seventh helped him to hang on in a race which featured a "Tony Hawk" move - in reference to the iconic American skateboarder.

When asked about his race, and a moment over the kerbs, Hulkenberg delivered the quip to media, including RacingNews365. 

"Yeah, a bit of Tony Hawk there; I was just testing the limit," he said.

"I had a good start, a good Lap 1 and had a good feeling and instinct as to where to go, and on the inside of Turn 2, I got another position, so that was good to set us up for a good race.

"It was very close with the Racing Bulls and Alpines, and then George at the end was a bit sketchy, and I didn't think at the beginning it would be possible [to keep him behind].

"But I then found a better rhythm and closed the gap to Liam and picked up a bit of an indirect tow, which really helped us on the straight to pick up a bit of straight-line speed."

The fact that Hulkenberg had managed to hold up Russell was picked up on by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.

"It gave them good TV coverage," quipped Wolff.

"It was so difficult here to overtake. The moment you catch the car in front, you have such a wake, so much dirty air that you lose downforce, and I think at that stage he was probably 1.5s faster than the guys in front of him, but you can't pass. 

"So our best-case scenario was P7, if it had gone smoothly. 

"I think P9, we need to be we need to be happy with that. It was a damage limitation race for us, with him starting from the back, and I think he drove a great race."