At Sunday’s race in Baku, Nico Hulkenberg had to start from the pit lane because Haas F1 made a mistake during the set-up. To solve it, the team had to break the “closed park” regime, and this was followed by a fine.
Having started on hard tyres, Niko drove almost the entire distance on one set of tires – the team hoped for the arrival of a safety car in the later stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but did not wait for this. As a result, Hulkenberg was forced to make a late pit stop on lap 50, after which he finished 17th and took penultimate place in the race.
“The car did not behave as we hoped and expected,” Niko said in the broadcast of Austrian broadcaster ORF. – There was no harmony at all in her behavior and I could not find the right rhythm in any way.
Moreover, we did not at all assume that if we started the weekend with these settings, we would risk anything, because in the past they have been used quite successfully in Baku. But with such a tight weekend format with a single hour of practice, we were in a difficult situation as there was very little time left until Friday’s qualifying. Now we need to analyze what happened.
However, everything always depends on how competitive your car is. I don’t think it would be much easier for us if we started the race together with everyone from the grid.
At the Baku circuit, the car’s aerodynamics need to be adjusted to a relatively low level of downforce, and that doesn’t suit our car. With trails where maximum pressure is needed, the VF-23 does not cope well either. From this point of view, I expect our chances at the next race in Miami to be better as a more efficient rear wing will return to the car.”
In Baku, the US team used a rear wing with less drag.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
