Martin Brundle blown away by 36-year-old driver during Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

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Martin Brundle was one of many incredibly impressed onlookers during qualifying in Bahrain as Nico Hulkenberg drove his unfancied Haas into 10th place.

There was a huge amount of concern that Ayao Komatsu’s team would be the slowest on the grid in 2024.

However, speaking live on commentary in Sakhir, Brundle echoed the thoughts of everyone watching the 36-year-old on Friday evening.

Brundle amazed by Hulkenberg during Bahrain GP qualifying

The main talking point going into qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit was whether Red Bull’s perceived lead over the rest of the grid in testing would come to fruition.

Max Verstappen would be hoping to start the defence of his third world title from the front of the grid and duly deliver with a scintillating pole position lap.

However, while the usual suspects were all present during Q3 there was one outlier joining them.

Unfortunately, it was once again Lance Stroll who missed out from the top five teams as was often the case in 2023.

He was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg, who impressed Martin Brundle and every Haas fan watching qualifying in Bahrain in shock.

There were fears that the experienced German was going to have an even worse time than in 2023.

He showed that if Haas can sort out their tyre degradation issues during races, they may be in better shape than many thought.

Hulkenberg still lighting up qualifying

After easily finishing in the top 10 of the second qualifying session, Brundle said: “So [Nico] Hulkenberg, he found three-quarters of a second between Q1 and Q2, what a cracking lap that was.”

He finished ahead of the aforementioned Stroll and both RB cars who were highly tipped to be much quicker this year.

It’s too early to read too much into this performance from the 36-year-old with the race in Sakhir a unique track on the grid.

But as Brundle says, the difference in pace Hulkenberg found between both qualifying sessions in Bahrain was extraordinary.

His new team principal will be desperate for him to cling to his 10^th-place start on Saturday.

If he does, it will strike fear into the heart of the already struggling Alpine and Stake F1 Team after both teams saw their drivers eliminated in the opening session.