Nico Hulkenberg says 24-year-old F1 driver is going to ‘feel the heat’ in Las Vegas GP

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Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg has joked he’s going to be chasing down Zhou Guanyu during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg and Zhou were both speaking at the driver’s press conference, via Sky Sports F1, ahead of the penultimate race of the year.

It’s been a tough season for both Haas drivers as they currently sit bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.

Points have been hard to come by, with Nico Hulkenberg achieving just one points finish on a Sunday all season.

His seventh-place finish in Australia and a fantastic drive in the Sprint Race in Austria are the only real success stories of his campaign.

It means Haas have to make up a four-point gap to catch Alfa Romeo in the final two races.

And that’s given Hulkenberg all the motivation he needs to catch up to Zhou Guanyu in Las Vegas during Saturday evening’s race.

The Chinese driver is in slightly better form, having scored points as recently as Qatar.

Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas will be hoping to bounce back from a double retirement in Brazil at the last Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg determined to catch Zhou in Las Vegas

The German driver was asked how he views Haas’s battle with Alfa Romeo and said: “Yeah, Zhou’s [Guanyu] going to feel the heat for sure!”

Hulkenberg has been a strong qualifier this year, winning his head-to-head battle with teammate Kevin Magnussen.

However, their race pace has been very poor and finishing in the top ten has proved incredibly challenging for both drivers all year.

Hulkenberg’s added experience over Zhou might give him the advantage in Las Vegas given how little knowledge there is of the circuit.

The 36-year-old has more than 200 Grand Prix under his belt and plenty of knowledge of how to learn new tracks and warm up his tyres in tricky conditions.

Zhou, on the other hand, is no longer a rookie and has regularly challenged his more experienced teammate this season, meaning battling with Hulkenberg won’t overwhelm him.

Anything could happen this weekend and the two cars might not just be battling at the back of the grid if things go their way.

It might even be a case of just keeping your car on the track to success in the Nevada desert.