Nico Hülkenberg continued his winning streak at the British Grand Prix: he started in sixth place and finished in sixth place. As in Austria, he is now the first pursuer of the top teams and has scored more important World Championship points. “It’s a fulfilling feeling to get eight points in sixth place twice in a row. It was unexpected, but deserved. We worked for it. We didn’t make any mistakes and had a good strategy,” said the German, delighted with a consistently clean weekend from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.
Catching up in Silverstone: Tactics and courage lead Haas to success
There was a single flaw that marred Hülkenberg’s otherwise flawless weekend: he botched the start and lost three places to Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc. The key to a successful race in Silverstone, however, was the right strategy decision and the right timing when changing tires later in the race. In doing so, Haas was able to make up for the loss of position. “We got the timing very right. Both stops. That’s why the result is a reward,” said Hülkenberg.
Two short rain showers forced the teams to weigh up whether it made sense to switch to intermediates or not. After spending the first third of the race in ninth place, Hülkenberg reclaimed eighth place from Lance Stroll on lap 18. He then benefited from Ferrari’s strategic error, which brought Charles Leclerc into the pits on lap 19 to change to intermediate tires. This put Hülkenberg in seventh place.
However, the light rain shower only lasted a short time at this point, so those who had opted for inters had to make a second pit stop immediately afterwards. The drivers who were brave enough to stay out and slide around the track on slicks were rewarded. Like Hülkenberg.
However, he found the track conditions at that time to be anything but ideal and describes it as a ride on a razor’s edge: “I have to admit that it is quite unpleasant to turn into Copse at 300 km/h, with raindrops on your visor and not knowing whether you are going to hit the wall or make the corner. With dry tires and this level of grip, it is really deadly and very challenging.” The race was accordingly demanding for the concentration and psyche of the Formula 1 drivers, said the German.
On lap 26, the time for the intermediates had actually come and Haas called the drivers into the pits. “Strategically, things went well. The change to intermediates came at the right time. A few colleagues were a lap too late. Our timing was very good – even when we went back to the slicks. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for today,” said Hülkenberg after the race.
Hülkenberg: Final sprint on soft tyres a tough job
The last stint was a tough job, however, according to the Haas driver. From lap 40 onwards he was fitted with the soft tyres and Stroll – at this point around four seconds behind him – was fitted with the medium tyres. “In the last few laps I pushed like crazy. The forecast for today was 60% [Regenwahrscheinlichkeit; Anm. d. Red.]. So we put a bit more downforce on the car, but that made us very vulnerable and slow on the straights. Also, the soft tyre started to wear down after 10 laps and I had to drive very cleanly. Lance pushed from behind on his medium, which of course has much less tyre wear,” Hülkenberg explains the special challenges.
Although Stroll closed in on Hülkenberg by one second, the German managed to defend his position. He also gained a place when George Russell retired on lap 35, crossing the finish line in Silverstone in sixth place. “I was very happy to bring it home,” said a delighted Hülkenberg.
Haas on the rise with updates in Formula 1
This is particularly due to the great pace of the Haas. Hülkenberg has often been fast on one lap. With the vehicle development and the According to updates from the last few weeks, the Haas VF-24 also seems to have found its racing trim. Its lap times were at times on a par with those of Sainz and Verstappen.
“I think it has improved our performance at high and medium speeds. High-speed performance has been an issue on some tracks this year. This weekend we seemed to close that gap a bit – especially with the other teams in the midfield and to some extent with the top teams,” said Hülkenberg, assessing the progress Haas has made thanks to the updates.
If you look at Aston Martin or Ferrari, who have even rolled back their last update for the time being, it is anything but a given that new vehicle parts will immediately achieve the desired goal. This is why Hülkenberg praises his team: “The team has worked well and cleanly. Every time we add something to the car, it works as we expect it to and the correlation [mit den Windkanaldaten; Anm. d. Red.] is not bad either. We made some changes in our technical department and in the aero department last year. The result is that it now works better and more efficiently.”
The updates have significantly improved Haas’ performance and brought the team further forward in the tight Formula 1 field. “I think we’re in the fight for fifth place now – sometimes with Aston Martin, sometimes with Alpine, sometimes maybe with others. But I think we’re in it. We’ve been pretty consistent this season and I think we can keep it up,” says the German Haas driver.
The times when Haas was questioned should be over for now thanks to the good performances on the track. Some may even see the small US racing team as the positive surprise of the season. Hülkenberg cautiously agrees, but warns against being too hasty: “The start of the season was better than expected. We were able to keep up with everyone. We did the same job, maybe even better. I think it depends a bit on the weekend and the track, so we’ll have to wait and see. But it’s definitely a great comeback in history.”
At 36, Nico Hülkenberg is currently in the form of his life. But what is the situation with the next generation of Formula 1 drivers? Is Antonelli really that good? What about the Formula 2 champions of the past few years? Are there only British young drivers? Experts answer these and other questions Christian Danner in this video: