Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg (36/Emmerich) will start the home race of his American racing team Haas with an update.
As team boss Günther Steiner said on Monday, the update will primarily affect the aerodynamics of the car. The car also gets a special paint job.
“Generating more downforce and less air resistance was simply no longer possible, so we had to change the concept,” said Steiner. This concept is commonly known as the “Red Bull concept”. Hülkenberg’s car should now resemble that of world champion Max Verstappen (26/Netherlands). The paintwork, however, will be completely different. At the home race in Austin this weekend, the simple Haas will be adorned with a few elements reminiscent of the “Stars and Stripes” of the American flag.
It is not to be expected that Haas could now perform similarly to Red Bull despite the update. Such a big jump would be unusual, even if the backbencher team desperately needs it.
After 17 races, Kevin Magnussen (three points, 31/Denmark) and Hülkenberg (nine points) have only collected twelve points. This puts the team in second-to-last place in the constructors’ championship. Only AlphaTauri (five points) is worse. With the new parts, Haas wants to collect better results in the last five races.
Whether the update is successful will be shown in the sprint (Sunday, 0:00 a.m./Sky). The classic Grand Prix will take place on Sunday (9 p.m./Sky) and offers Hülkenberg and Magnussen the opportunity to score even more points.