Niko Hülkenberg: Going through the old town is cool with the narrow walls

Was it pleasing to be back in the points in Canada?

I think Montréal was a good weekend overall. Qualifying was solid and in the race, we got the best out of the car so four points was good for us. I had a lonely race as a whole with some good battles with Lance [Stroll] and Kevin [Magnussen] which was fun. The team did a decent job and that has been rewarded. We are making good progress. We have a lot of potential with the car which we need to discover. It is very encouraging and I am looking forward to getting out to Baku.

What makes Baku so cool?

It is still a new venue to Formula 1 which is exciting, we are still getting used to it. Going through the old town is cool with the narrow walls, but it takes time to learn the track. I am usually good at adapting quickly and learning new tracks and new lines. It is exotic and a bit different here. There are some cool looking, vintage houses around. The old castle brick wall has a blind entry which is unique, Monaco is spacious in comparison!

Is it a tricky circuit to navigate?

There are some walls waiting for you so it is important to be quite brave. The viewing is good for fans and the speed is cool to watch. It is the fastest street circuit on the calendar. Overtaking will be possible with the long, DRS straights. There are a lot of tight, 90-degree turns matched with flat-out kinks, so I am looking forward to racing it. The castle complex of turns 8 to 10 will be especially close with the wider cars.

It was the first Grand Prix in Baku last year, what do you remember from it?

It was obviously unfamiliar surroundings last year as we were all new to the track. But I had a positive weekend, qualifying in twelfth place before making up a couple of places in the race to come home in ninth with two points. I remember the first practice session last year and really enjoying the track as it was different and had a bit of everything. The weekend was pleasing so hopefully we can build on that this year, especially with our recent form.