Although Nico Hülkenberg started the Hungarian Grand Prix from ninth place on the grid and was able to keep up with the competition in the early stages of the race, the Haas driver was once again without a point with P14. “To be honest, it went according to our expectations,” sums up ‘Hulk’. “It was obviously the tire degradation that felt pretty high.”
“Our pace wasn’t good enough today,” Hülkenberg is honest. “I had to manage quite a bit in terms of tires.” As a result, the Haas driver was no longer able to keep up with the pace of the top ten, although there was still hope after the start: “It was better than usual in the first stint. I was able to stay close to Fernando, for quite a while. The tire degradation was less than expected.”
At the latest after the first tire change, however, the well-known problems returned. “The hard tire didn’t work so well today, the medium tire was the better choice for many drivers,” said Hulkenberg. “That was a little surprising.”
“The Highest of Feelings”
Overall, the Haas driver struggled with a low level of grip due to the high temperatures. “It’s very frustrating as a driver, but you do what you can,” said the German, reviewing the race. “That was the highest emotion today, we didn’t leave anything behind. The strategy was right, there just wasn’t enough speed.”
“As soon as we start pushing, the car starts to slide and we destroy our tires,” Hulkenberg sums up the basic problem of the Haas VF-23. However, the German was also able to gain something good from the Hungarian race: “We were more competitive than on the past Sundays.”
“Before the race we knew that we would have to struggle with the heat and our tire degradation,” adds team manager Günther Steiner with satisfaction. “It was a tough race but I think we made the best of what we could.”
McLaren miracle at Haas?
What does it take for Hulkenberg to finally score points again? “We need a story like McLaren, they did it,” the Haas driver hopes to Sky. “At the beginning of the season in Saudi Arabia they were still behind us and then they completely tore it around. They actually brought a B car.”
At Silverstone and Hungary, Lando Norris finished on the podium behind Max Verstappen. “That’s pretty impressive,” said Hulkenberg. “That makes waves and has to be our role model.” The performance improvement of the competition shows that great progress is still possible during the season.
“But the engineers and aerodynamicists have a duty to find and do something,” warns the German. “We’re trying to improve our car, for example we need more downforce. There are many things we want to improve.”
Magnussen follows
Why does it work in qualifying, where Hülkenberg regularly draws attention? “I feel good in the car, especially on a lap when you have a lot of grip,” explains the German. “I’ve found a good rhythm, a good connection to the car. That’s exactly what a driver wants.”
For teammate Kevin Magnussen it was only enough for 17th place in Hungary. “I don’t feel very good about the results, it’s a disappointing day for us,” said the Dane. “I didn’t have any pace on the hard tires and we had two long stints on the hard tires – probably we should have done a three-stop.”
“There’s nothing we can do other than keep working on the car and trying to solve our problems,” says Steiner. “A lot of other teams are picking up the pace – we can’t at the moment but we’re working on it.”
Spa chaos as hope?
Haas is obviously not able to score points on his own, so the typical rainy weather in Spa, which is also expected next weekend, could be a help. “It doesn’t do any harm, as we see the picture of the season so far. It can only be positive,” says Hulkenberg.
“But having fun in the rain is a thriller, anything can happen there,” says the experienced Formula 1 driver. “It’s not a sure-fire success, because Spa is one of the most demanding circuits. But I’m looking forward to it!”