Shortly before his first race weekend as Haas’ new regular driver, Nico Hülkenberg spoke exclusively to RTL/ntv and sport.de about his own ambitions in Formula 1 and also looked at the competition. The last German among the 20 F1 drivers believes that one team can play a particularly important role.
From the point of view of the returnee, who will be active as a regular driver in Formula 1 for the first time in three years, it is the former Vettel team Aston Martin, which could make the biggest leap forward. “They looked very, very good in the preparations. I think they could be a surprise candidate to join the front,” said Hulkenberg in an interview RTL/ntv and sport.de.
The 35-year-old contested his last Formula 1 race for Aston Martin last year, when he stepped in as a substitute driver for the sick Sebastian Vettel and finished 17th and 12th in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
When asked about his own Haas ambitions, Hülkenberg confirmed that his team boss Günther Steiner had formulated sixth place in the constructors’ championship as a target: “He calls that a goal. I’ll try to follow that. But before the first race we can only speculate. With 23 races, it’s a very long season, there will be ups and downs. It’s important that we keep improving and get the most out of our package.”
According to the Emmericher, the outstanding World Cup favorite is and remains Max Verstappen. The Red Bull star already won the title in the drivers’ championship in 2021 and 2022 and wants to make his world championship hat-trick perfect this year.
“He’s still in the best car at the moment and will accordingly start the season off strong. As a double world champion, Max is at an absolute high and is an absolute killer,” Hülkenberg praised the Dutchman, who has meanwhile won 35 Formula 1 races.
“He just does it without batting an eyelid. I rate Red Bull the best at the moment,” added the German, referring to the superior Red Bull competition.
Felix Görner spoke to Nico Hülkenberg