Nico Hülkenberg once again failed to score anything in the Formula 1 race in Barcelona. He saw the checkered flag in eleventh place for the fifth time this season. The last point result was two months ago. However, the experienced driver was not dissatisfied with his Sunday in Spain. His Haas VF-24 mastered the hot temperatures and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is particularly demanding for the tires, better than expected. The five-second penalty for a faux pas in the pits has no effect.
“In general, it was a positive race. Of course, it wasn’t quite enough, but the pace was pretty strong, especially in the last stint when I caught up with Esteban,” said Hülkenberg, who was just under two seconds behind Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and tenth place after 66 laps. Catching the Frenchman would have only meant trouble later. During his last pit stop, Hülkenberg received a five-second time penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane when entering.
“I braked really badly, much more than I expected. I had set the brake balance to the rear, but I still lost a lot of the front tires on the way in,” he explains. As the last driver in the field who had not been lapped, he remained in eleventh place in the rankings, ahead of Fernando Alonso. He had already achieved this position at the previous three finishes, as well as in Suzuka.
“I remember the [elften Plätze] not at all, I’ve long since erased them from my memory. Wipe your mouth and attack again in a few days,” said Hülkenberg, looking at the missed points results. A few more tenth places would have saved Haas from losing seventh place in the constructors’ championship to Alpine in Barcelona. The French are currently ahead by 8:7 points. “I already need this new points system. If it comes next year, I’ll just send an invoice for this year,” he jokes.
Haas passes tough test in the heat
The fact that he even came close to scoring points in conditions that were warmer than forecast was positive enough for Hülkenberg. The asphalt surface was over 40 degrees Celsius, almost ten degrees Celsius warmer than expected. In the past, race pace has always been Haas’ Achilles heel in such tire-killing scenarios.
“Of course, I only have my impressions from the car, but Esteban was obviously my reference and I was definitely faster than him,” said Hülkenberg in an interview with Motorsport-Magazin.com. “When I really had to push and put him under pressure, the pace was respectable and good at the time. But then the tires let me down and I couldn’t do it anymore. But all in all, I feel like we got the maximum out of the race.”
In the first lap, he improved from 13th place on the grid to tenth place. In the first stint, he was not pushed back through again with deteriorating tires, as so often happens. “That was definitely positive and probably better than what I or we expected. In a way, that’s encouraging,” said the 213-time Grand Prix participant, looking at the midfield. “On Pierre [Gasly] were still ten seconds behind, but before that there were only fast cars.”
Hülkenberg aims for points at the triple header
Next weekend, Hülkenberg wants to get back into the points at the Red Bull Ring. Last year, he finished sixth in the sprint there. “That was mainly due to the mixed conditions. In Austria, the weather can always be a surprise. I hope that the conditions will be similar. That makes it more interesting, mixes things up a bit and gives us more chances,” said the 36-year-old.
He expects a step in terms of further development at the following race weekend in Silverstone, as Haas has an update in the pipeline: “Of course, you always want to verify that it feels the same in reality and that the car is better as a result. Silverstone is completely high-speed and the package is designed for improvements of this kind. We hope that we can make the difference with this.”