Hülkenberg believes that Haas will not bring immediate improvements
After a rather catastrophic weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, Nico Hülkenberg stated that the solution to his team Haas' current problems "doesn't lie in the street" and that it would take time to implement it.
Nico Hülkenberg is showing a good pace for his full-time return in 2023. Often in Q3, he even managed to reach second place in qualifying in Montreal before being penalized three places for not sufficiently slowing down under a red flag. However, the VF-23 lacked race pace and has been hard on its tires this season. So far, the German’s best result in a GP in 2023 is his seventh-place finish in Australia.
If the native of Emmerich declared that his team knew what they had to do to improve the car, he emphasized that it would not happen in the short term. « I think we understand the cause, what is happening, and why it is happening », explained Hulk after finishing last in the Belgian GP. « But to remedy it and improve performance, it’s not enough to just go out on the street, it’s a bit more complex. I think we can still improve the situation this year. To what extent, that remains to be confirmed, it depends on us, and we have to prove it. But yes, it’s a longer-term thing. », continued the 35-year-old driver who is competing in his tenth season as a regular, and who also believes that the summer break will serve Haas well to bounce back.
Lots to do during the summer break
« Yes, we need it », he declared about the August break, « But what we really need is improvements, real achievements, to help ourselves. That’s what we need. »
Nico Hülkenberg had a very bad last weekend in Belgium, starting last in the sprint race after encountering hydraulic issues, and [received new components for his race car](/f1/actualite/31276-nico-hlkenberg-aura-nouveaux-elements-voiture-course.html) in the main race.
« It was a rather dark weekend for us », he analyzed, disappointed. « Obviously, this track exposes once again the weaknesses of our car. That’s why we weren’t competitive in any session, in any lap, I feel. So there is a lot of work to do ».
So we’re going to let it go, start over, regroup, and come back after the summer break, with the hope of being a little stronger. I have a new engine now. We’ll see where that takes us.
