Vettel substitute Nico Hülkenberg experienced a difficult day at the Formula 1 comeback at the start of the 2022 season in Bahrain. Now he has provided reasons why more than 17th place was not possible.
“In the end I went a bit on the rim,” admits Nico Hulkenberg. No wonder: The German only found out on Thursday that he would be contesting the Bahrain Grand Prix for Aston Martin at the weekend, replacing the corona-positive Sebastian Vettel, and without any significant preparation.
So he “did what I could,” says Hulkenberg. But with the AMR22 there were limits.
Even in qualifying, Hülkenberg and Lance Stroll hadn’t gotten past Q1, although Hülkenberg had accepted Stroll by more than two tenths despite his lead in experience. In the race, however, Stroll turned the tables and achieved the better position with P12. Hülkenberg finally steered his car to the finish in P17, the last car still moving after 57 laps of the race.
“Sky” expert Ralf Schumacher still compliments his German compatriot: “Nico had [vorab] he didn’t even do a single real long run, he didn’t even know how the tires work. From that point of view: really well done!”
Praise from the Aston Martin team boss for Hulkenberg
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack is also positive about the drivers. Both would have had to do “lift and coast” in the race, i.e. save fuel, in order to even reach the finish line. “But they did well,” says Krack.
“P12 and P17 are of course not what we had imagined, but based on our starting positions, a good result was difficult anyway. Lance drove well, Nico did a good job too. And our car is clearly not fast enough.”
Hülkenberg can confirm the latter after his race: “We’re lacking a bit on the straights. And where grip is important, we also have a few balance problems.”
Hülkenberg: Other worries than the speed of the car…
In the Grand Prix, however, he actually had other concerns than the speed of the AMR22, the Aston Martin driver continued: “I was very busy driving the thing, learning and getting the basics right for myself. I have so don’t pay much attention to everything else.”
And initially things went well for Hülkenberg, who, coming from P17, was already in P15 on lap two and a little later was twelfth in the race, at times even ahead of Mick Schumacher, who had started well ahead of him.
It went “quite well” at the beginning, says Hulkenberg. “At some point I braked myself (Schumacher: “It’s okay, he wasn’t the only one.”) and from then on it kind of went downhill. Then the laps came up pretty quickly and then the race was kind of over.” It was like a “downward spiral,” he says. “And then you just keep falling behind.”
Mixed conclusion at Hulkenberg
The fun factor was therefore limited in some phases. Hülkenberg escapes with irony: “Being last is of course really fun. But that was to be expected. Yesterday qualifying and driving a lap is not easy, but it’s easier than managing a race distance. Those are completely different laws that rule there. Hence, yes, it is what it is.”
Hulkenberg said he had made “no major mistakes”, but he was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with his role as Vettel’s deputy.
The German sees his experience with a current Formula 1 car as positive: “Now I have first-hand information. That’s valuable for me and the team, for working in the simulator. I now have a good reference, especially since you yes, always working on the correlation. That’s definitely a bonus.”
And Aston Martin has a lot of work to do to make the AMR22 competitive. “Of course we have to analyze and understand a bit,” says Hulkenberg. “There are a few areas in which we have to work, because if you’re behind, there’s room for improvement everywhere. We have to find out where that’s the most now.”
It is still unclear whether Vettel will also be absent in Jeddah
And Hülkenberg has to relax first. Because Ralf Schumacher had the right nose for ‘Sky’ when he said, “we have to [Nico] ask how his neck is doing”. Hülkenberg: “Of course, physically such a race distance is still something different than a qualifying lap that only lasts 60 to 80 seconds.” It was a difficult race for him, and ” hard”.
But whether Hülkenberg will be back in action in Saudi Arabia in a week’s time is “not yet clear,” he emphasizes. If Vettel is fit by then and can travel, Hulkenberg will move back into the second rank. “But I’m still here, on standby, as a substitute,” he explains. “I guess we’ll find out on Thursday or Friday.”
Should Hülkenberg step in for Vettel again in Jeddah, Ralf Schumacher expects “another Nico in racing trim”. After all, the little preparation with only three hours of training compared to six days of testing with the competition took its toll, “but otherwise a great job,” said Schumacher. “Everything went perfectly.”