'He compared pretty well with Daniel Ricciardo': Nico Hulkenberg's success at Haas has not been a surprise

In the ongoing 2023 F1 season, Nico Hulkenberg has certainly proved himself and has shown that he still has what it takes to push a team forward and deliver a solid performance in the highest single-seater racing series. He's faster than his teammate in Haas, Kevin Magnussen, and is a huge step up when compared to Mick Schumacher in terms of consistently scoring points.

Speaking about Hulkenberg, F1 journalist Ben Anderson went on The Race F1 podcast and explained how Nico Hulkenberg wasn't the most popular driver on the market back in 2019. However, Anderson feels that the German driver was on par with Daniel Ricciardo when they were both in Renault as he stated:

"I think Hulkenberg's stock maybe wasn't quite as high as it could have been. He compared pretty well with Daniel Ricciardo, who was still in his pomp really, in their final season together at Renault. So I think the good driver has always been there."

A top drive from Nico yesterday earned him his firsts points since his return to F1 💪

#HaasF1 https://t.co/3UQXSrkKPi

Furthermore, Anderson praised Nico Hulkenberg, stating that he wasn't surprised to see the driver perform much better than Mick Schumacher. Although Anderson clarified that he doesn't think that the young Schumacher is a bad driver, he felt that the German came to F1 just because of Ferrari and his family name.

Another reason why Hulkenberg immediately started performing in F1 is because he was asked to race on several occasions during the COVID-19 period whenever a driver was sick. Anderson concluded by saying:

"I'm not surprised that he has been stronger and a bit more consistent than Mick Schumacher. I always felt that Mick Schumacher was a bit overrated and kind of got into Formula 1 through Ferrari more because of his name than really because he was a outstanding talent. I'm not saying he is a bad driver, but I'm not surprised that he has not continued. And I think Hulkenberg, being a kind of COVID superstar, he kept himself sharp, still had some hunger for it."

Nico Hulkenberg happy and motivated after a great start to the 2023 F1 season

Even after a chaotic 2023 F1 Australian GP, Nico Hulkenberg seemed happy with his car's performance and was fairly positive about the next few races. Although he was slightly disappointed after losing P4 after the third red flag in the race, he explained how the team learned quite a lot about the car and will continue to work on it:

"There are a lot of positive learnings again and I feel there are a lot of good things happening. I’m refreshed, in a very positive mindset, and really enjoy working with the team and experimenting with the car. We have very good momentum and that’s what we want to take into the next races.”

hell of a race!! 3 redflags, 3 standing starts, 58 laps of adrenaline and finally P7 with 6 sweet points @HaasF1Team 👊🏼💪🏼 @F1 #AusGP https://t.co/LyAI9FWERX

Hulkenberg finished P7 in the Australian GP and has already scored six points for Haas in three races.