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Nico Hulkenberg believes Kevin Magnussen helped him earn his first points of the season at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the race, the Haas driver was grateful to his teammate and vowed to return the favour later in the season.
Although Nico Hulkenberg started 15th on the grid, he finished tenth. While the German managed to move up the grid during the race, Magnussen backing up his immediate rivals into a DRS train helped him retain tenth place.
The former Force India driver was running as far up as seventh during the race, but became a casualty to cars quicker than him. With limited overtaking opportunities at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, his Danish teammate’s contribution paid off significantly. Otherwise, the 36-year-old believes he had a lone race but given the high-speed nature of the street circuit, he felt it was physically draining.
Grateful to Magnussen, the Le Mans winner felt that the safety car period was not the primary contributor to his result. He felt at tracks like Jeddah when the top 5 teams are in the points, it becomes tougher for smaller teams to be opportunistic to finish in the top ten. However, he believes that circuits like these have always required out of the box strategies to aid smaller teams.
Asked by Sportskeeda how it felt to earn the first points of the season, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“Well, one point, but yeah. Obviously happy about that. I think great team effort, great team game by Kevin. I didn't see it, but I was told that he really helped my case by holding up the pack behind him, which obviously helped or opened up the window for me to take the point. So yeah, very good job from him on that side and thank you. I'll return the favor later in the season.
And then yeah for most part you know, I was by myself, just you know driving pushing to be honest. It was a real push race, it was no tire saving going on. It was flat out so quite physical because I think the pace was pretty high but enjoyed it especially that middle stint on medium was really good. And kind of we had negative deg (degradation), I guess like everybody else and it was just you know head down and then flat out.”
Asked if he would have scored points if it weren’t for the safety car period, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“Well, without further safety, you never know here, but I think in races like these races here, and when currently we have the top five teams, if they stay in the race, it's the top ten taken. So I always feel you have to do something unorthodox and something... not so you know logic or what seems like common sense. You know you have to obviously push your luck a little bit and do something different offset yourself. And like in the past that has has often paid off. Obviously there wasn't a safety guard today that had made it, but it was my teammate that that made that possible.”
Nico Hulkenberg reckons its early days to predict Haas progress
Nico Hulkenberg feels that Haas' performance cannot be judged this early in the season. The German driver reckons it will take a few more circuits and venues on the calendar to define their position in the pecking order.
Hulkenberg praised rookie Oliver Bearman’s performance as he battled the Ferrari driver for a brief period. The Haas driver claimed he tried to get the British driver to use up his tires but he had too much of an advantage with a superior car.
Asked by Sportskeeda if their current result was an indication of progress and an optimistic sign for the season ahead, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“Yes, but I feel it's still early days. Last year Kevin scored a point here and I scored points in Melbourne and after that it somehow slipped away from us. So I think we need to still wait a few more different tracks and weekends to see that we can confirm it. It does feel better and you know a much better foundation and base but we have to confirm it every time.”
Describing his battle with Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg said:
“Yeah I think he did good already from P3. you know he was pretty on it, attacking. I think obviously he also his race was probably just pretty much by himself too. Not much action, which is obviously you know quite a bit more relaxed and chilled. Yeah I was trying to hold him off for a few laps, and then once he took me too early there and I took him back. So he's trying to get him to use his tire a little bit but yeah, that wasn't enough, they have too much of a car advantage.”
Although it's a single point scored by Nico Hulkenberg, it places Haas sixth in the constructors' championship. The American team have eclipsed rivals such as Williams, RB, Sauber and factory outfit Alpine who are yet to score a point.
Given the drastic changes over the winter of replacing founding team principal Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu, the current result boosts Haas' lost morale. Despite their rivals producing better cars and restructuring their teams better, the experience of a senior driver lineup has paid off at a track like Jeddah.
