Guenther Steiner hails £30k-a-week driver as ‘one of the best’ qualifiers in Formula 1

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Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has hailed Nico Hulkenberg for a superb performance in qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg managed to reach Q3 on Friday evening in Sakhir and even earned the praise of Martin Brundle.

Being interviewed on Sky Sports F1, Steiner was very impressed with the 36-year-old and shared a message for his old team.

Steiner praises Hulkenberg after Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

While there wasn’t a massive surprise at the front of the grid, there was an outlier when looking at the top ten finishers.

Max Verstappen finished on top, continuing his domination from 2023, however, Charles Leclerc will feel he should have taken the top spot.

The Monegasque driver set the fastest time of the day but in Q2 rather than Q3 and will have to settle for second place.

However, it was Nico Hulkenberg who surprised everyone in qualifying and earned the praise of his old boss Guenther Steiner.

The £30,000-a-week driver has always been extremely quick over one lap throughout his career.

He scored his famous pole position in Interlagos back in 2010 showing his potential as a young driver on the grid.

Unfortunately, he’s never been able to convert performances like that into a podium and it’s hard to see that changing while he’s with Haas.

Hulkenberg mixes it with the best in Sakhir

Asked about his old team’s performance in Bahrain and Hulkenberg in particular, Steiner said: “Absolutely, I’m very happy for the guys, I’m very happy for Nico [Hulkenberg], he’s one of the best qualifiers if not the best one out there and he just performs at that level.

“But, it’s good for the guys at Haas that they work hard and they deserve it.”

There have been concerns about whether Hulkenberg would be able to improve on his disappointing 2023.

Haas suffered with awful tyre degradations during races even if they weren’t particularly slow over one lap.

Steiner couldn’t fix those issues while at Haas but is still very happy to see that Hulkenberg is quick in qualifying.

It’s going to be fascinating to see whether he can sustain that position in Saturday’s race.