Nico Hulkenberg is pleased with Haas’ progress in the nascent stages of the 2024 Formula 1 season but reckons the extent of its gains will be more evident in Suzuka.
Having earned the American outfit’s first point of the campaign in Saudi Arabia, Hulkenberg led team-mate Kevin Magnussen in Australia to secure a double points finish.
Haas had entered the current term with new Team Principal Ayao Komatsu dampening expectations that the squad was set to commence the season on the back foot.
But Hulkenberg feels pleasantly surprised about the advances Haas made with aerodynamic performance, transforming into more effective tyre management in race trim.
However, the veteran German driver warns that the challenging Suzuka circuit in Japan could be a “tough” track for Haas due to the venue’s high-speed characteristics.
“I think we’ve made very good progress in a very little amount of time, actually, in December, where the aero guys found a lot of performance and somehow straightened out the aero map problems we had last year, and that just means much more consistency on Sunday and therefore better tyre life and characteristics,” Hulkenberg explained.
Nonetheless, Hulkenberg still felt that the tyre management was “still tricky” during the Australian GP, where the graining was a big concern for all 10 teams on the grid.
Despite those problems, Haas achieved its second points finish of the season to slot into seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, behind the rebranded RB squad.
“I think you’ve got to be careful with all these conclusions,” he cautioned.
“Obviously, in Jeddah, we helped our case, you know, with a great team effort. So we are all super close with AlphaTauri [RB] there.”
“I haven’t seen a Sauber in this race, but with Sauber, with Williams, with Alpine even.
“So, you know, it takes very little, and it could be a huge swing around in the other way. So it’s just a matter of, you know, always maximizing your weekend, every session.”
“And so far, I think we’ve been good with that. Also, somewhat lucky on my side, which is always obviously nice. But eventually, the others will also face some luck.”
“So important is that we develop the car and, you know, just get stronger on everything,” said Hulkenberg after the last race.
Asked about his teamwork with team-mate Magnussen, the German driver thinks they are working really well despite some lingering personal issues in the past.
Magnussen abided with a team order to let Hulkenberg through in Melbourne, while the Dane held up several cars in Saudi Arabia to help the German take 10th.
“We are working as a team, as a couple. I think we also want very similar things from the car, you know, pulling in one direction, which is always very good for a team, so they can really go in one way,” he added. “And yeah, on and off track, you know, we get on, and it’s good.”
