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Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner claimed that Nico Hulkenberg was 'one of the best qualifiers' on the grid after the German driver finished P10 in the Bahrain GP qualifying.
The Haas driver caught everyone by surprise with his consistent pace over one lap as he looked more comfortable in the car than teammate Kevin Magnussen during the entire session.
Speaking with Craig Slater of Sky Sports, Guenther Steiner was complimentary of his former team and heaped praise on Nico Hulkenberg:
“Absolutely, I am very happy for the guys, and for Nico. He is one of the best qualifiers, if not the best. He just performs at that level. It’s good for the guys at Haas. They work hard and they deserve it.”
In his post-qualifying interview, Nico Hulkenberg analyzed the session and added (via Crash.net):
“Last year, quali and the one-lap pace was our strong point. In testing, we hadn’t done low-fuel performance runs. Yesterday was the first time. I could sense and feel that there was potential. We want to get rid of the bad Sunday trend from last year."
"It feels better from inside the car. Tomorrow is the first real test in anger. We have fixed the car, the aerodynamics characteristic from last year which was really poor, especially on long runs. There is a lot of learning going on, for tyre management, in the background,” he added.
Nico Hulkenberg previews the Bahrain Grand Prix for Haas F1
After an encouraging practice session at the Sakhir International Circuit, Nico Hulkenberg stated that the fans of the Haas F1 team should not get too excited.
The German driver was quoted as saying by F1.com:
“[There’s] no reason to get over-excited and over-ambitious now, I think there were a few people that didn’t do low fuel runs and have more potential. So, it’s going to be tight and interesting to see."
It will be fascinating to see how the German driver fares during the main race on Saturday as many expect the car to fall back and out of the points as faster cars are starting behind him on the grid.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen would hope that they have been able to get rid of the issues that plagued them during the 2023 season and that the VF-24 is more competitive than its predecessor. The other teams would be wary of Hulkenberg on Saturday as he has the potential to spring a surprise.
