Nico Hulkenberg admits F1 return with Haas ‘hasn’t delivered’ for one reason

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Nico Hulkenberg admits his return to Formula 1 with Haas in 2023 ‘hasn’t been fun’ as the American team prepares to debut a vital upgrade package at the United States GP.

The 36-year-old had been without a full-time Formula 1 seat for the past two seasons before he replaced Mick Schumacher. Haas called on Hulkenberg to take over his compatriot’s drive after their disappointing end to 2022. But issues with the VF-23 yielded another tough year.

Haas have struggled all season, with Kevin Magnussen rueing how ‘fragile’ the VF-23 is and how it destroys tyres. The VF-23 has a very small operating window to extract fast lap times in qualifying. It’s excessive tyre wear then ruins whatever promise they can find for the race.

Hulkenberg admits his F1 return with Haas ‘hasn’t been fun’

Hulkenberg has only scored points in one Grand Prix so far this year after finishing P7 at the Australian GP in April. He also later took a P6 finish in the Sprint at the Austrian GP this July. While Magnussen has finished in P10 for the Saudi Arabia, Miami and Singapore Grand Prix.

Haas’ want of points-scoring finishes has them sitting P9 in the constructors’ championship with 12 points. Only AlphaTauri have scored fewer with five, while Alfa Romeo have scored 16 to take P8. And Hulkenberg admits Haas’ problems in Grand Prix have proven disappointing.

“Obviously on track, it hasn’t delivered what we’d hoped for,” he admits, via GPblog. “Being able to capitalise on Saturday’s pace and show off what the car and I can do has been fun. But points are given on Sunday, so the trend of falling back during the race hasn’t been fun.

“Nonetheless, I’ve really enjoyed working with this team and building those relationships with the crew in the garage and my engineering team and getting to meet the team working hard back at the factories.”

Hulkenberg cannot wait for their United States GP upgrades

Haas hope to turn a corner with their year with a key upgrade package at their home United States GP. The American-owned outfit will deliver a new car concept in Austin, in what team principal Guenther Steiner has dubbed a preview for 2024 as they look forward to next year.

Magnussen and Hulkenberg will finally get Haas’ long-awaited aerodynamic upgrades at the United States GP. The team have moved more toward a Red Bull-style concept in a bid to fix their year-long issues. And Hulkenberg cannot wait to enjoy the upgrades’ desired benefits.

“This update is an indication of what this team strives for and I’m looking forward to the upcoming races and the next season with them,” he adds. “The update is highly anticipated.

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s aimed to improve our performance, characteristics, and the weaknesses of the car we’ve found which have made us struggle, especially on Sunday. It’s to help [improve the] tyre wear, consistency and better performance.”