Nico Hülkenberg races to sixth place in Formula 1 qualifying at Silverstone with the Haas updates and beats both Ferraris: Could it even have been P4?
Nico Hülkenberg has confirmed the strong impression made by Haas with a sixth place in qualifying at Silverstone. With the new parts on the Haas VF-24, Hülkenberg was able to beat both Ferraris, among others, but qualifying almost ended sooner than the German would have liked.
“Q1 went well and happily for us, because we made a bit of a mistake with the timing,” said Hülkenberg on Sky after the session. The track was still wet at the start, which is why the drivers were out on intermediates. However, Haas gambled on the drying track and only sent the drivers out on soft tires towards the middle of the session.
“The red flag from Checo [Perez] didn’t really play into our hands and that was such a snowball effect,” explained Hülkenberg, who therefore only had one attempt to get into Q2. “In the end, it was just good enough and we were lucky to get through, otherwise it would have been a disaster. “
Last Q3 lap not quite clean: Would P4 have been possible?
Teammate Kevin Magnussen got caught out, however. The Dane retired in 17th place in the first qualifying segment. Hülkenberg and the retreaded Haas were able to show off in the rest of the session: “Q2 was clean, Q3 mostly too,” said the 36-year-old. “But the last lap wasn’t quite. I think I could have done a bit more, but P6 is okay.”
Asked more specifically about his final Q3 lap, where Hülkenberg even set the best first sector of all the drivers, he explained: “I ran out of road in turn 13, I got a lot of understeer and couldn’t stay on the line I wanted. And I feel like I ruined the tire by understeering and there was nothing left in turn 15, so unfortunately I lost all the time.”
In the end, Hülkenberg was 0.519 seconds off pole position for George Russell in the Mercedes. However, if you add up the best sectors from both Q3 laps, the German could have gained at least two tenths, which would have put him fourth ahead of Max Verstappen.
Hülkenberg: You could feel the updates straight away
The fact that the Haas is even capable of such a position can undoubtedly be attributed to the new parts that secured Hülkenberg the fourth-fastest time on Friday. Even if the German cannot give exact figures as to how much the Haas update brings in terms of lap time, it is still a noticeable step forward for the drivers.
“It’s hard to say exactly how much,” he says when asked about the effects of the update. “I was really happy and felt it immediately yesterday in the second practice session, which is always a positive sign. I’ve had that in the past, when you put updates on and you don’t feel them, it’s usually not that great, but this time it was really noticeable and very positive.”
“It also helps the cornering balance, the characteristics are a bit smoother, better, the car forgives more and I think it will do us good and help us in the race as well. “
Hülkenberg: Haas probably without a chance against Ferrari in the race
For the race, Haas should also be encouraged by the fact that, in addition to strong long runs on Friday, they have always looked a little better on race pace than on a fast lap in qualifying on recent race weekends. However, Hülkenberg does not want to go too far out on a limb, as the Ferraris, who are actually faster, start behind him.
“Yes, the Reds are coming from behind,” he says when asked about his race prediction. “We won’t be able to hold them off under normal conditions. I think they will drive past and away, but everything that is behind them and starts, I think we can take them on and we can beat them too.”
However, Hülkenberg does not have a preference as to whether the race should be dry or wet for Haas: “I think the weather is like this, there is rain and it can happen at any moment. It could be mixed conditions, it could just be like this [as it is now in qualifying]. So I don’t really have a preference, to be honest. “
