Haas Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg says he “needs to review” his restart at Suzuka as an anti-stall issue when dropping the clutch denied him scoring another point.
Hulkenberg had a good first start of the race in Japan, as he managed to surpass Yuki Tsunoda to move into the point-scoring positions right before the red flag came out.
However, the German was unable to replicate that on the second standing restart as he had a prolonged reaction to the lights going out and dropped six places to 16th.
When asked about his stuttering start, the Haas driver revealed he was dealing with an issue on his VF-24.
“The first start was really good, but the second start I went into anti-stall as soon as I dropped the clutch,” he said. “So I need to look into what happened there.”
The bad restart effectively denied Hulkenberg’s chances to score another point for him and his team, but the pace shown was very strong compared to its midfield rivals.
Haas didn’t expect to be competitive around Suzuka and Hulkenberg said himself that this would be an ultimate test for the American outfit.
“After that second start, I’m honestly a bit surprised that I managed to come back to where I did. I think it’s half a miracle, to be honest,” admitted Hulkenberg.
“It showed that we had good pace. Obviously, I tried to go as quick as I could while managing the tyres as much as possible. So yeah, obviously a pity because I probably could have fought Yuki or beat Yuki.
“So one point was up for grabs, but Hamilton is 50 seconds up the road, so that’s obviously a bit out of reach.
“What I take from today is that we have a package that we can fight the other midfield team with. To be honest, it felt even better than what I expected.
“I was having quite some headaches before the race. I didn’t expect it that great. But it turned out much better, so I take that one happily, and I’m looking forward to more good races.”
Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Haas F1 Team on the drivers’ parade. 07.04.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Race Day.
Haas is looking to fight its main rivals RB for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship. Both are currently the sole midfield teams to have scored, with RB ahead.
Asked about the baseline of the car compared to his predecessor, Hulkenberg sees a remarkable step forward and is enthused with developments in the pipeline.
“Much better [thanlast year]. And we have some other things as well,” Hulkenberg added.
“We’re still in the set-up toolbox that we want and can exploit, so I think we still have room for improvement.”
“I have a good feeling this year that things are in a better place than last year.”
Hulkenberg has revealed that the first batch of upgrades from Haas this campaign to its VF-24 challenger will come next time out at the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Obviously we need to find the performance first in the wind tunnel or somewhere to bring up upgrades. Otherwise, it’s pointless,” said the German driver
“But that’s obviously the target, to find performance as the year goes by. China is, I think, only part of that package, and it will be completed then later in Imola.
“It’s good, bit by bit. Obviously, we need to always bring it to the track and verify that it does what it’s supposed to and that the correlation is good.”
