According to Nico Hülkeberg, he initially did not set himself the goal of returning to Formula 1, and it was only at the beginning of this year that he felt such a desire.
In 2019, Niko drove his last race for Renault, after which he served as reserve driver for the Racing Point team, later renamed Aston Martin. Now he has signed with Haas F1 and will be Kevin Magnussen’s new teammate next season.
“For two years I didn’t worry too much about going out of contract, and I enjoyed a life that became much more relaxed, plus there were other pluses,” RaceFans quotes Hulkenberg, 35, as saying. – But then gradually the desire to return to the starting field, to participate in races, appeared, having signed the contract of the driver of the main team.
When the 2020 season started, shortly after at Silverstone, I replaced an ailing Sergio Perez. But it’s good that I had time to think about everything, think about some things and slightly correct my vision of future prospects.
Then, in 2021, I sometimes felt it was hard being a reservist and staying in the role of an observer, even though I still thought I was fine at the time. But this year following the races has become even more difficult, especially when you analyze what is happening on the track and you think you could do better in some situations. So I thought about returning.”
Hulkenberg not only served as a reserve driver, but also participated in tests with an IndyCar car last year, after which he refused to switch to the American racing class. And when there were rumors that Haas would not renew the contract with Mick Schumacher, Niko Gunther called Steiner himself. However, he negotiated with other teams, but in the end, a few weeks ago, everything fell in favor of Haas F1.
“You can’t be sure of anything until the contract is signed,” said Hulkenberg. – I think everything has become more concrete and serious in recent months, so I have become optimistic and confident that we can agree. I would say everything was decided a few weeks ago.”
At one point, Niko had incidents on the track more than once, the second participant of which was supposed to be Magnussen, after which the riders exchanged recriminations more than once, and Kevin did not do this completely diplomatically, but everything is in the past, and now the future partners normal working relationships.
“I expect that we will have a good relationship,” Hulkenberg said. “I think we broke that ice earlier this year when I greeted him in the same terms as in 2017. This made Kevin very happy and I’m not at all worried about our future partnership.
I think we are both mature, respect each other and will drive for Haas without any problems.”
On Tuesday he will get behind the wheel of the VF-22 for the first time during the tire test in Abu Dhabi. season test: try to understand the Haas machine. This can be seen as an early start to preparations for next year, as three days of pre-season testing for the first leg of the championship isn’t that much.
Therefore, this is a kind of opportunity for me to get a first idea about this machine, about how all its systems work, and this will allow to remove many fundamental questions. Of course I will now be able to take a closer look at the VF-22, to feel how effective it is, what its strengths are and which aspects should perhaps receive more attention.
Source: F1 News
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