Another weekend, another good qualifying and another disappointment at Haas on Sunday. Regarding the poor race pace, Nico Hulkenberg, who started from 5th and finished 15th, said he was somewhat frustrated that if the race pace did not improve, the time trial was worthless.
The regular German driver was one of the stars of the Montreal time trial: he drove the second-fastest lap on the wet track and, despite taking a three-place penalty, was still able to start from the prestigious fifth position. After seeing his results last weekend, many people suggested it would be difficult to maintain his race position, but Hülkenberg indicated he was ready to fight.
Then the race again brought disappointment to the team: the German competitor had no chance not only against faster rivals, but also against direct rivals, quickly got out of the points zone and eventually finished only 15th.
He expressed his frustration after the wave, emphasizing that the timely trial rush isn’t entirely necessary at the moment. “It was expected and I was afraid of itHe told German Sky Sports. “I knew we wouldn’t repeat what happened at the time of the trial. It happened again… like in Barcelona. I simply lack speed compared to others. We are completely behind.”
“Unfortunately, this was a recurring theme the previous weekends. It’s starting to become kind of a trend. That’s our biggest problem and we’re working on it.” – indicated in connection with the weak pace of competition. “Good Saturdays are worthless if Sundays are always disappointing.”
On the other hand, Hülkenberg, who has commented several times since his return, tries to look on the positive side of everything, concluding by noting that he especially enjoyed the fight with Chou Kuan-ju, so he’s trying to “take this with him” from the weekend. “It was fun, I felt good while working. I battled with Csou for 15th place. It was very intense. Quite simply, these are the moments that make racing fun.” He said.
Team captain Gunter Steiner also expressed his disappointment regarding Sunday’s setback. “It is already clear that we do not want such results and that is disappointing. I think we know where to look for the reasons. When we are in traffic, behind other cars, tire wear is serious. We cannot recover the performance, which is why we have fallen behind” pointed out.
“We can clearly see that as soon as we get out into the fresh air and start fighting, the tires are wearing out. We know what we are looking for and we are going to look for the solution. We have to get our heads together and try to find a solution to this problem and not hide behind good qualifying results.” highlighted.