Nico Hulkenberg says 28-year-old rival and £105k-a-week driver will be ‘unhappy’ after Australian GP

Follow us on Google Discover

The Australian Grand Prix has been a happy hunting ground for Haas in the past and Sunday’s race was no exception.

The last time both drivers scored points for the team was in Austria in 2022 when Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen finished in the top ten.

After achieving a ninth-place finish, Nico Hulkenberg spoke to Formula 1’s official YouTube channel after the race to reflect on another positive result.

The experienced German might have been expecting to be racing at the back of the pack given how pessimistic new team principal Ayao Komatsu was during pre-season.

However, after some inventive tactical driving in Saudi Arabia from Kevin Magnussen, Hulkenberg got off the mark in the Drivers’ Championship.

Hulkenberg tripled his points tally in Melbourne but isn’t sure Alex Albon or Daniel Ricciardo will be particularly happy with him.

Some well-timed pit stops aided his race this time around and may have frustrated two of his closest rivals.

Hulkenberg thinks Albon and Ricciardo will be ‘unhappy’ with him

Haas struggled so much during the 2023 season because they couldn’t get a handle on their tyre degradation.

They weren’t necessarily the slowest car over one lap in qualifying, but more often than not they fell down the grid once the race started.

Ayao Komatsu has made fixing this issue Haas’s biggest priority and three races in they appeared to have already taken great strides forward.

It’s even more impressive considering Hulkenberg didn’t make it out of Q1 on Saturday.

His final fast run was impeded by Sergio Perez who picked up a three-place grid penalty as a result.

However, that didn’t deter Hulkenberg and he thinks Albon and Ricciardo might be unhappy with him given how he made up his places during the race.

Under pressure drivers frustrated by Nico Hulkenberg during Australian Grand Prix

Everyone is under extreme pressure in Formula 1 all the time, but arguably Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo are feeling it more than anyone else.

The 28-year-old Williams driver destroyed his chassis in practice and gave team principal James Vowles a tough decision to make considering they didn’t bring a spare to Australia.

Logan Sargeant was sacrificed for the Thai driver and he narrowly missed out on points by finishing 11^th.

Daniel Ricciardo has had a tough start to the campaign and has been outclassed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

The £105,000-a-week driver qualified 18^th after being penalised for breaching track limits and did well to make his way past both Alpines and Saubers but ultimately missed out on points.

Hulkenberg suggests that Albon and Ricciardo might be unhappy with the nature of his overtakes but the German didn’t do anything deliberately wrong.

Instead, it was the nature of the pit lane that might be the subject of their ire.

Hulkenberg explains how Australian GP pit lane helped Haas double-points finish

Reflecting on the race, Hulkenberg said: “Obviously, the first VSC helped me, it was a cheap stop. But then two times, it was quite practical, after both my stops I came out and kind of…it’s quite awkward for the car that’s on track when a car comes out of the pit lane because we sort of park it and the closing speed is very big.

“And the first time I kind of overtook Daniel [Ricciardo] that way and then the second time I took Alex [Albon] that way.

“I’m sure they were both unhappy about that but that kind of made our race today and together with the VSC and the teamwork, so I’m very happy.”

There’s a chance that Hulkenberg could be under pressure for his seat given he’s entered the final year of his contract and Oliver Bearman’s Ferrari connection means Haas is a likely landing place for the teenager if he’s going to make the step up to F1.

He’s outperforming Kevin Magnussen right now, but he’s also being eyed up by Audi before they enter Formula 1 in 2026.

At 36, it’s impressive that Hulkenberg has plenty of options on offer to extend his time in the sport.

The most important thing for the team is they keep capitalising whenever one of the top drivers fails to finish.