'Quite Clearly A Problem': Says Hulkenberg After Demonstrating Old Haas Car Was Faster
F1Tuesday, 28 November 2023 at 04:00
Nico Hulkenberg evaluated the performance of his Haas car and the effectiveness of upgrades brought by his team after the last race of the 2023 season - the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
As it was announced before the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Haas drivers drove different cars during the last two races of the season.
While Kevin Magnussen drove the newer and upgraded version of the car, Nico Hulkenberg opted for the older one, saying he preferred it.
What happened in Abu Dhabi might have been a surprising result to many people as Hulkenberg actually outperformed Magnussen in both qualifying and race on an older spec car which was supposed to be slower. Hulkenberg told the media:
"Last weekend, I felt actually the new package had an edge over the old package on a low downforce configuration. This weekend I felt quite okay, Kevin didn't feel so happy."
Haas F1 team seemed more competitive from the beginning of the season, but unlike other teams, they failed to introduce effective upgrades to the car.
"The signs were there early in the season, and we got away with it earlier in the season because other people also were struggling. Once they cleaned up and brought some real developments, that's when we really started to pay the penalty."
Speaking to Sky Sports Deutschland, Hulkenberg voiced his opinion in a more straightforward manner as he said he demonstrated the new car is not faster and it is clearly a problem:
"I have demonstrated that the new car is not faster and that is quite clearly a problem. It's a message to our factory, to the engineers and mechanics."
The German driver showed his disappointment once already after the race in Mexico City when he addressed his Haas team back at the factory saying the bad results after upgrades would be a wake-up call for them. The 36-year-old concluded:
"Next year we have to do things differently. That has been our problem this year. Our development was at a standstill and we have been brutally overtaken."
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