What Formula 1 team Haas expects for the remaining races of the season and why Nico Hülkenberg will refrain from making performance predictions in future
Haas “simply wasn’t strong enough” at the most recent race weekends before the Formula 1 summer break, says Nico Hülkenberg. So what is the German’s mood going into the second phase of the 2024 season?
Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, he says: “I’m not making any more predictions. Because we often thought we were coming to a track that would suit our car. But the exact opposite happened – and vice versa.”
Hülkenberg attributes this on the one hand to the dynamics in the broad Formula 1 midfield: the performance of the teams fluctuates from weekend to weekend, also due to individual development. “All of this can lead to the expected scenario not occurring,” explains the Haas driver.
In Hungary, for example, his team experienced that they had no chance in high temperatures on Sunday. “We also lacked downforce there,” says Hülkenberg.
In Belgium, on the other hand, there was “simply no good feeling” in the car. “The track didn’t suit the car. We didn’t find a good performance window and were constantly struggling. That was difficult. “
Hülkenberg sees no clear trend
Hülkenberg does not see a “clear trend” in this, however: “We had very different conditions across different tracks in which we were good.” So it’s not just the weather that makes Haas fast or slow.
“And it doesn’t just depend on us,” emphasizes Hülkenberg. Haas’ final position in the overall Formula 1 standings “also depends on Racing Bulls”. The Italian team currently occupies sixth place in the standings with 34 points, seven points ahead of Haas in seventh place.
“If Racing Bulls are strong again here [at Zandvoort] and score points, it will certainly be very difficult,” says Hülkenberg. “If not, then it will be a different story. But even that cannot be predicted. “
Why Magnussen is more optimistic than Hülkenberg
Hülkenberg’s Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen is more confident. He expressly considers P6 in the championship to be “possible” and Racing Bulls “realistically within our reach”.
Reason: “Racing Bulls was just a tick stronger than us in the first half of the season. That’s why I think we have a chance. We should be able to fight.”
Especially as Haas has acted “very, very positively” in the further development of the VF-24 so far, as Magnussen explains: “Especially when we have really struggled to make the car faster in the past. We often had a fundamentally good car, but in many years we fell behind as the season progressed.”
“This year, however, we have more or less maintained our position. That means we’ve kept up in the development race, and that’s really positive. “
