The statistic that links Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen
Future team-mates at Haas next season, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen share many similarities from the start of their careers. But one of them is surprising, to say the least.
They are both Formula 1 drivers. They are both in their thirties. They both started in prestigious teams (Williams for one, McLaren for the other). They will both be racing for Haas next season. However, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen can boast of having achieved a performance that no one expected. They both obtained their only pole position, to this day, on the Interlagos circuit in Brazil to everyone’s surprise, and both finished in eighth place in the race.
Hülkenberg, a surprising beginner.
Making his Formula 1 debut in 2010, adorned with a GP2 title from the previous season, Nico Hülkenberg is perceived as a highly talented promising driver when he lands at Williams. Despite a mixed start, he gradually gains momentum throughout the season until he arrives in Brazil, the second-to-last race of the season, with the ambition of finishing in the points.
As often in the suburbs of Sao Paulo, the weather is threatening and could disrupt the Grand Prix weekend. This is particularly the case during the qualifying session. Faced with such uncertainty, the cleverest team and the most skillful driver are often the best rewarded. On a drying track, Hülkenberg manages to tame the elements and clinches the best qualifying time, right under the nose of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s Red Bulls, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. What’s more, he leaves his pursuers, who are fighting for the ultimate title, over a second behind.
In the following race, under more normal conditions and especially without rain, the German driver doesn’t enjoy his pole position for long and gives up the lead of the race to Vettel as soon as Senna’s S turn. Third at the end of the first lap and then fourth by the tenth, Hülk finishes in eighth place in the Grand Prix after fighting throughout the race to keep a spot in the points.
Magnussen, a revengeful ghost.
At the end of 2020, Haas announced that they were parting ways with their pair of drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, and replacing them with a 100% rookie duo consisting of German Mick Schumacher and Russian Nikita Mazepin. While Grosjean decided to go to the United States and join the IndyCar series, Magnussen found refuge in Endurance racing by becoming an official Peugeot driver for the brand’s grand return to this championship.
Fate finally decides otherwise. While the teams are preparing for the 2022 season in tests in Barcelona, the paddock is suddenly caught up in the geopolitical situation shaking Europe and the world. Haas, directly affected due to its sponsors, decides to part ways with Mazepin. To replace him, Günther Steiner reaches out to his former driver, Kevin Magnussen, with whom he has maintained very close relationships. Benefitting from a well-designed car, the Danish driver immediately shows his skills by finishing an incredible fifth in the first race of the season in Bahrain.
Slipping down the hierarchy due to late developments, Haas is fighting for a modest eighth place in the constructors’ championship towards the end of the season. In Brazil, also the second-to-last event of the season, Magnussen enters with the ambition of securing a Top 10 finish. As part of this sprint weekend format, qualifying takes place on Friday to determine the grid for the Sprint Race on Saturday.
Taking advantage of rainy conditions just like Hülkenberg did twelve years ago, Magnussen achieves a pole position as improbable as it is incredible. And like his future teammate, he deserves credit for making it to Q3 behind the wheel of a car that is no better than a Q2. Setting the fastest time of the session, Jan’s son becomes the first Danish pole-sitter in Formula 1 history. Finally, like the German driver, Magnussen finishes the Sprint Race in eighth place.
A pair of experience
In Bahrain, for the opening of the 2023 season, the new Haas driver pairing will have a total of 322 Grand Prix races. A record since the birth of the American team in 2016. The two men will have the objective of growing the youngest team on the grid and moving up in the hierarchy.
Having each driven for several teams, Hülkenberg and Magnussen will be able to leverage their solid experience in motorsport. Versatile drivers who are not afraid to take on some stints in endurance racing (Hülkenberg notably won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 with Porsche), the German and the Danish will also have the mission of proving their employer right in parting ways with Mick Schumacher. As a tribute to him, his race number, 47, is the sum of the numbers of the two future Haas drivers, 27 for Hülkenberg and 20 for Magnussen.
