At first glance, things don’t look too bad for Nico Hulkenberg and Haas ahead of the Formula 1 race in Jeddah. The German finished Friday in Saudi Arabia in eighth place and thus in the top 10 (+0.578 seconds). Teammate Kevin Magnussen, on the other hand, was 15th.
However, Hulkenberg does not want to overestimate eighth place. Eighth place is better than 18th place, but in the end it’s just Friday for him – which he finished fifth in Bahrain. “So it doesn’t really matter that much,” he says. “I don’t care. If you’re 18, but you know the reason, then I can sleep well,” he sees it pragmatically.
In general, however, Friday went quite well from his point of view – and that is the most important thing. Haas had a good basis and had no major problems. “We accomplished our plan and, as usual, learned about the different tire compounds and degradation.”
The dismantling was still the big problem for Haas in Bahrain, who hadn’t exactly excelled with good long runs. In Jeddah, tire degradation won’t be the big issue because the track is a bit gentler on the tyres. “But that applies to everyone,” Hulkenberg does not see it as a special Haas advantage.
The long runs are again the big construction site for the racing team in Saudi Arabia. According to the German, they felt “not bad”, but not really good either. “If we have to improve somewhere, it’s there,” he says.
Hulkenberg: “Then the problems will become more obvious”
On one lap, a fresh tire would hide the car’s problems, “but if you drive several laps and the tire is no longer fresh, then the problems become more obvious,” said Hulkenberg. “Then you might use more tires. It’s all about grip and balance.”
Speaking of balance: teammate Kevin Magnussen was still missing it on Friday. “We have to take another step for tomorrow,” says the Dane, who was 1.2 seconds behind the leader – and more than six tenths of a second behind Hulkenberg.
But Magnussen doesn’t want to overestimate the time: “I made a few mistakes and then had traffic. The lap doesn’t really count,” he says.
What will be in it for Haas on Saturday is still open. There was only about a second between fourth and 20th place on Friday. “It’s very tight,” says Magnussen, who also thinks Q3 is possible: “I think so.”
Hülkenberg is more cautious with his forecast: “I don’t know,” he says when asked about Q3. “Behind us are a couple of good cars.” For example, both Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton were behind Hulkenberg, for whom a good Saturday result is not that important: “Our focus is not on Q3, but on the top 10 in the race.”
But that could be difficult with poor tire degradation.