Hulkenberg carried his strong qualifying form from 2023 into the season opener in Bahrain, lining up 10th before falling to 16th in the race owing to a poor launch and damaging his front wing in a Turn 1 collision with Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll.
Then in Saudi Arabia, the German climbed from 15th to score a point in 10th by going against the grain and not pitting during a safety car period - caused by Stroll crashing out - before team-mate Kevin Magnussen lent a hand by holding up the chasing cars.
Hulkenberg says this kind of divergent strategy is increasingly what is required for lower-half teams to score a point in F1, given the performance of the top-five squads.
“I think in races like this race [in Saudi] when, currently we have the top five teams, if they stay in the race, that's the top 10 taken,” he said.
“So, I always feel you have to do something unorthodox and something not so [logical] or what seems like common sense.
“You have to obviously push your luck a little bit and do something different, offset yourself and, like in the past, that has often paid off.”
Source: Autosport