Nico Hulkenberg applauds Haas’ upgrades solving their ‘long time issue’ after back-to-back P6 finishes
Nico Hulkenberg believes that the upgrades on the car have improved the Haas car's high. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the British GP, the German driver felt the changes made at the team over the winter have paid off in terms of efficient car development.
Nico Hulkenberg has had two consecutive sixth-place finishes in Austria and Britain amounting to a sumptuous amount of points for his team. Haas upgraded their car with a new floor body, floor edges, floor fences, side pod inlets, engine cover, mirror stay, and rear corner at the British race weekend. The 36-year-old driver believes the upgrades paid off and delivered in the form of improved performance in the race.
Compared to rivals like Aston Martin, RB, and Ferrari, Haas have managed to be more effective in producing upgrades that work. Nico Hulkenberg reckons the efficiency could be a result of the changes made in the technical and aerodynamic departments over the winter. Their team principal Ayao Komatsu had mentioned earlier in the year, that they did not expect significant progress in the first half of the season. The former Force India driver felt that their upswing in performance has been better than expected.
Asked by Sportskeeda where the Haas upgrade had made a difference compared to their rivals, Nico Hulkenberg replied:
“It's improved our high speed and medium speed performance. High speed was kind of an issue all this year, so far, to the tracks that we've been to. And this weekend it seemed that, you know, we kind of closed that gap to some extent to especially to the other midfield teams and also to the top teams to some extent.”
Asked what had Haas done differently to deliver efficient upgrades effectively, he said:
“They've just done a good job and I think they've worked well. They've worked clean. Every time when we put stuff on the car, it kind of works to expectation and the correlation is also not bad. So obviously we've made some changes to our technical department and aero department last year and end of last year. And I think you know the result is this now that it kind of works better and more efficiently it seems.”
Asked if he was surprised about the sudden upswing in performance, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“It is, I mean nobody expected even where we started you know. It was better than the expectation. But then yeah we kept up with everyone, did the same job, maybe even better. I think it's also a little bit weekend dependent and track dependent. So you know we'll have to wait and see. But no it's definitely a hell of a comeback and a story.”
Nico Hulkenberg believes that Haas is competing for the fifth-fastest spot on the grid
Nico Hulkenberg believes that Haas is competing consistently to be the fastest car on the grid with the recent upturn in performance. He feels the British GP result has amounted to eight more points, rounding his total in the last two races to 16 points. The former Renault driver felt that the upgrades working was rewarding on track. He reckoned that Haas managed to exclude a good race despite the tricky weather conditions. The 36-year-old driver was able to keep both Aston Martin drivers, a Williams and an RB driver at bay. He scored more points than Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull Racing driver, Sergio Perez.
Asked how he felt about the race, Hulkenberg replied:
“Good, happy. Obviously a nice rewarding feeling to get eight points again, two times in a row. Unexpected, but I think, you know, deserved. We worked for it. We stayed clean, no mistakes, good strategy. So, yeah, very good. I think that the best of all though is the performance that we've had, the upgrade really did something to the car. And I generally think we're in the fight for fifth fastest team now with sometimes Aston, sometimes Alpine, sometimes some others maybe, but I think we're there. We have been pretty consistent this season and I think we can hang on to that.”
Asked if it was difficult to execute a perfect race due to the changing weather conditions, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“Super difficult, yeah. I mean, after a minute it's pretty uncomfortable turning into Copse with 300 with rain on your visor and not knowing, you know, 'am I going to be in the wall or am I going to make the corner'. Just don't know, you know, with slicks and this grip level, it's really lethal and very challenging. That's why, you know focus wise and mental this race was pretty tough and demanding. But yeah, like you say we got we got the timing very well, I think both stops and yeah hence also the reward and the result I think.”
Nico Hulkenberg is now eleventh in the championship and has contributed 22 points out of the Haas’ total of 27 points. The American team is now seventh in the championship and is trailing Visa Cashapp RB by four points. Their upgrades and recent performances have placed them well ahead of rivals like Williams, Alpine, and Sauber. Their last two race results have been their best finish since the French and Austrian GP results in 2018.