The Formula 1 festival in Monza with the record victory of Red Bull star Max Verstappen once again degenerated into a horror show for Nico Hülkenberg. The German was only able to leave his teammate Kevin Magnussen behind in 17th place. The fact that the two Haas pilots were the only cars in the field to be lapped speaks volumes. Hulkenberg then found clear words.
“We’re terrible compared to the competition,” said Nico Hulkenberg on the “Sky” microphones. “We were the only team who didn’t bring anything with us to Monza. If you do so little, you can’t expect much. We’re not worthy of points here and are far from it.”
The situation is “frustrating, bitter and somehow sad, but we have to accept it now. Wipe your mouth and in 14 days we’ll continue on a route that might suit us a little better”.
After Hülkenberg’s return to Formula 1 as a regular driver was actually solid and the veteran raced into the points in seventh place in Australia in the third Grand Prix of the year, hopes germinated that Haas, who was mostly inferior in the previous season, could get the curve. However, there were no further points from Hülkenberg.
F1 star expects “no huge bright spots”
All the same, the 36-year-old does not completely rule out at least a slight upward trend for the upcoming races in Singapore (September 17) and Japan (September 24).
“I’m not expecting any huge rays of hope. But I’ll have the new front wing again, so: cautious optimism. Of course we won’t tear down any trees there, but I hope that we’ll be a little better again,” said Hulkenberg.
Hulkenberg replaced Mick Schumacher in 2023, whose contract with Haas was not renewed. Born in Emmerich, he is currently the only German driver in the top motorsport class.