by VALERIO BARRETTA
Hülkenberg, what a suffering in the race
The Saturday covers in 2023 were conquered (rightly) by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who combined 17 pole positions in 22 appointments, but a note of merit certainly goes to Nico Hülkenberg. In fact, the German managed to bring the Haas into Q3 on eight occasions, showing a much better polish on the flying lap than that of teammate Kevin Magnussen. However, the weaknesses of the VF-23 did not allow him to translate Saturday's great performances into points: only in Melbourne did Hülkenberg confirm his remaining in the top-10. And Haas had to surrender last place in the constructors' standings.
Hülkenberg's words
“The development of the car fell short of expectations. At the beginning of the season we were there, but then we weren't able to develop, especially regarding aerodynamics. And this explains why we finished last. Of course, I didn't expect us to finish in the points every weekend. But I expected something more“, these are the words of the German to his compatriots Auto Motor und Sport. “In Singapore it would have been possible to do more if we had stopped with the Safety Car, but there weren't many other opportunities. We simply lacked the speed to get to the points under our own power“.
The Haas driver then explained the drop in performance from Saturday to Sunday: “It's all in the tires. They hold up well for 90 seconds and give everyone a chance for a quick lap. Then, if on Sunday you have to do 20-30 laps with just one set of tyres, then the differences make themselves felt. A sliding car puts strain on the tyres. It is a problem that mainly concerns aerodynamics. In the race, we try to fight with the cars that have more downforce. Which however are basically faster and put less stress on the tyres, while we have to give everything and we enter into that vicious circle whereby the tire overheats, slips even more and we immediately enter this vicious circle and cannot escape from the spiral“.
“We have Ferrari suspension and they have had similar problems, although not at the same level as us. Maybe it's a question of concept. I don't know if it's any consolation that they have apparently found a solution to this problem. Let's wait to see what happens next year“, concluded the German driver.
#Hulkenberg #Haas #expected #FormulaPassion
