208-race driver’s stock has already risen during 2024 F1 season after ‘huge’ moment

Follow us on Google Discover

The 2024 Formula 1 season may have only just started, but Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s stock has already risen after scoring his first point in Saudi Arabia last Saturday.

Haas went into the campaign setting their expectations very low but already appear to have exceeded them.

Speaking on the Unlapped Podcast, journalist Lawrence Edmondson believes the 208-race driver – of which he’s started 205 Grand Prix – has enhanced his reputation.

Nico Hulkenberg’s stock has risen this season

After three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain last month, it was hard to get excited about Haas’s prospects in 2024.

Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were at the back of the pack for the majority of the test in Sakhir but a few positive noises were emerging.

They overtook Alpine in the pecking order with the French team having a disastrous winter.

Hulkenberg then produced a fantastic qualifying session in Sakhir, reaching Q3 before ruining his race after making contact with Lance Stroll.

However, he and Magnussen showed that day that the car’s issues with tyre wear had significantly improved.

Hulkenberg then went on to score a valuable point in Jeddah and there’s a suggestion that his stock is rising this season.

He was aided by some exceptional slow driving from Magnussen in Saudi Arabia but the team deserve credit for executing that strategy.

Hulkenberg earning praise as contract end looms

Asked if Hulkenberg’s stock has risen or fallen this season, Edmondson said: “I’d say up. I think Nico [Hulkenberg] on a number of occasions last year showed how good he can be over a qualifying lap.

“But again, it was that thing of the car letting him down. He’d get into a race and the car would just eat its tyres.

“And what can you do in that situation? There was very little he could do to drive around it.

“So, I think now that he’s got everything in the right place with that Haas which like I said are in that bottom five group, but when it’s driven on the limit towards the front of that bottom five, I think he’s showing what a great driver he is.

“And obviously, the point in Saudi was some reward and huge for that team and huge for him.”

Hulkenberg is one of many drivers out of contract at the end of the season and his stock rising now could prove pivotal.

Even more so after the performance of Oliver Bearman who has been heavily linked with a move to Haas.

That would mean either Hulkenberg or Magnussen losing their spot and right now the German is one-nil up in terms of points.

He’s also the stronger qualifier, but former boss Guenther Steiner has sensationally linked him with a much better car for 2025.