THE Formula 1 season returns from its summer break this weekend with Enstone’s Renault team looking to hit the ground running.

They came away with no points from Hungary three weeks ago, losing ground in the constructors’ championship to Toro Rosso.

The second half of the season begins in Belgium at the renowned Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg finished fourth in last season’s race for Force India and believes Renault are in good shape, despite their last outing.

He said: “We are heading in the right direction and are looking competitive, but we want to keep pushing ourselves.

“It was a shame to finish how we did in Hungary, but in general there are positive feelings.”

l Sean Walkinshaw described his Blancpain GT Series Asia debut as a character-building experience.

The Chipping Norton racer, with FIST Team AAI teammate Jesse Krohn, finished 14th overall, ninth in class in the first race.

But contact in the second race led to a broken radiator pipe and the team’s subsequent retirement at Fuji Speedway, Japan.

Walkinshaw, who has been competing in the Super GT Championship in the Far East, is hoping to learn from the experience.

He said: “The weekend was a bit character-building.

“Unfortunately, the car didn’t have great pace due to the balance of performance, which made the BMW slower on the straights – and that was a big problem.

“It was fantastic to work with the team, though, a really professional great bunch of guys.”

Walkinshaw added: “Unfortunately, it was a disappointing weekend for all of us with the results but good experience nonetheless.”

He now returns to the Super GT Championship this weekend, with Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, for the sixth round of the season at Suzuka.