F1 News: Nico Hulkenberg Shocked At Haas Performance - 'It's Unexpected'

Saajan Jogia | Jul 9, 2024

Jun 8, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg (DEU) races during FP3 practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports / David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

In what appears to be an unexpected performance boost for the sole American team on the F1 grid, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg explains the impact of the upgrade package introduced for the VF-24 F1 car at Silverstone. This development has positioned Haas to potentially become the fifth-fastest Formula 1 team on the grid.

Finishing within the points in P6 for the second consecutive weekend, Hulkenberg suggests that the British Grand Prix upgrades have offered Haas an unexpected performance boost that could help fight teams such as VCARB in P6 in the Constructors' Championship with 31 points and Aston Martin in P5 with 68 points.

Haas, currently positioned in P7 with 27 points, holds the potential to challenge the top four teams in Formula 1—McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari—if it can fully capitalize on the performance gains from its upgraded F1 car.

Describing the performance gain after the British Grand Prix, Hulkenberg told the media:

 "It is obviously a nice, rewarding feeling to get eight points again, P6 two times in a row.

"It's unexpected, but I think deserved. We worked for it. We stayed clean, no mistakes, good strategy. Very good.

"I think that the best of all, though, is the performance that we've had. The update really did something to the car, and I genuinely think we're in the fight for fifth-fastest team now with sometimes Aston, sometimes Alpine, and sometimes some others maybe.

"I think we're there. We have been pretty consistent this season and I think we can hang on to that."

Teammate Kevin Magnussen, who started from the 17th position and managed to finish 12th, finds the upgrades very encouraging. He added:

"I think it's good.

"I mean, to put an upgrade on the car and see it score points in the first race, of course, it's encouraging.

"We know on paper it's not night and day, but it's in the details, right? So it's also a testimony to the car overall that we have.

"We've put a little bit more performance on here, but without it, Nico would still have scored points. So very encouraging and looking forward to more races."

Terming Haas' journey as 'one hell of a comeback' under the fresh leadership of team principal Ayao Komatsu, who took over the reins early this year from Guenther Steiner, Hulkenberg added:

"I mean, nobody expected it - even when we started it was better than the expectation.

"But we kept up with everyone, and did the same job, maybe even better.

"I think it's also a little bit weekend-dependent and track-dependent, so we'll have to wait and see but no, it's definitely a hell of a comeback and a story."