Nico Hulkenberg: In theory, new items should help

The Haas team brought technical innovations to Shanghai. Team driver Nico Hulkenberg expects them to help the team in the battle against rivals. Moreover, Niko believes that the characteristics of the Chinese circuit suit the VF-24 better than the characteristics of the Suzuki.

Nico Hulkenberg: “I hope that the new products will help us increase our speed slightly. This isn’t a major update, just a few new details. In theory they should help, but in practice you need to be sure the correlation is correct. We are fighting in the middle group, so it is better to get updates at this stage of the season than not.

The Shanghai circuit should suit our car better than the Suzuka circuit. There are more slow corners here, where our car feels more confident. Moreover, I have good memories of the Chinese circuit. I have raced here many times and have always enjoyed the smooth nature of the track.

Because the weekend is held in a sprint format, we have less time to prepare. This can contribute to the creation of additional opportunities, but for this we have to do everything right ourselves. Everyone is on an equal footing, but I don’t see a problem with us only having an hour of training at our disposal.”

Asked whether Fernando Alonso’s decision to extend his contract with Aston Martin would lead to more activity in the driver market, Nico said: “I’m not sure, not necessarily.

It is always difficult to predict the development of events, because sometimes they can develop quickly, but not always. We are certainly seeing an interesting situation at the moment: the driver market is very dynamic and I am sure that drivers who do not have a contract for next season are very busy at the moment. There is a lot of negotiation, exploring options and trying to decide on plans for the future. All this applies to me too.”