Nico Hulkenberg’s savage assessment of ‘unworthy’ Haas’ Italian GP performance

Michelle Foster 04 Sep 2023 1:30 PM

Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg with the tyre warmers on his VF-23 as he waits to leave the garage.

Haas will introduce a B-spec at in Austin.

Nico Hulkenberg savaged Haas after the Italian Grand Prix ended with the VF-23s the only two cars lapped, Haas failing to score a point for the ninth grand prix in a row.

Despite starting this year’s championship with a midfield, if not even slightly faster, car and scoring in three of the first five grands prix, Haas have only added sprint race points since Miami.

The team’s biggest problem has been tyre wear, the VF-23 destroying the Pirelli rubber and costing the drivers speed in the long runs.

Nico Hulkenberg: We’re not worthy of points

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

That was evident at Monza where Hulkenberg made a good start from 13th on the grid to run inside the points, the German even overtaking the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso to do so.

As the race progressed Hulkenberg began to fall back, overtaken by Alonso, Liam Lawson, and others. That forced the Haas driver into an early pit stop with Hulkenberg one of only six drivers to stop twice on Sunday.

When all was said and done after the 51 laps, Hulkenberg was 17th to Kevin Magnussen’s P18. The Haas teammates were not only the last of the classified runners but also the only drivers lapped by race winner Max Verstappen.

“We’re just eating the tyre, the balance is poor, we’re sliding a lot more than other cars, can’t keep the pace up using more tyre. So yeah, it was one of the toughest and worst races of the season,” Hulkenberg told media including PlanetF1.com after the race.

“The characteristic and the feel of the car was much better [in Zandvoort] than this weekend. So yeah, need to review that.

“Obviously, that’s also a big miss, not having a front flap ready for the new front wing. I think we’re the only team who didn’t have any parts, any upgrades here this weekend, and quite frankly, we’re not point worthy also for that reason.”

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The 36-year-old, who last month was confirmed as a 2024 Haas driver alongside Magnussen, has urged Haas to do what they can to bounce back in Singapore. The driver hopes that the street circuit will be better suited to his VF-23.

“Cautiously optimistic, but I think we should be in a better place,” he said when asked about the team’s prospects in the coming rounds.

“At least in a better place in the midfield closer to being in a race because today it felt like we were nowhere and you know, everyone was just driving through us.”

Haas remain eighth in the Constructors’ Championship but are now just a single point ahead of Alfa Romeo.