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Haas F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg had a forgettable few days at Spa Franchorchamps due to qualifying woes and returning tire struggles in the race.
Amidst the wretched weekend, Hulkenberg admitted that his battle with F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo was the personal highlight of the race. While battling for position in the back end of the grid, the Haas driver admitted to driving slowly for a tactical reason.
Nico Hulkenberg wasn't driving slowly to let Ricciardo by but was doing so to prevent the AlphaTauri driver from getting within DRS range. The long straights at Spa make it extremely difficult to defend when the trailing cars have the rear wing open.
“That was the slow driving race, nobody wanted to give the other DRS,” Hulkenberg said (via PlanetF1). “It was my personal highlight in the race, there wasn’t much more for me.”
Ricciardo eventually passed Hulkenberg to finish P16 in the race, while the German driver finished P18, last of the classified runners.
Before Sunday's struggles, Nico Hulkenberg had a horrid start to his weekend, being ruled out of Friday's qualifying due to a hydraulic issue. A strategic mishap in the Sprint shootout meant he couldn't even set a lap time on the board. He started last during the sprint race and started in the pitlane after the team decided on an engine change.
On race day, both Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen struggled with tires, an issue that has plagued the team since the season began. Team principal Guenther Steiner claimed the team extracted the most out of the car.
Nico Hulkenberg urges the need for upgrades to save Haas' season
After capping off a disappointing weekend at the Belgian GP, Nico Hulkenberg urged the need for upgrades to change Haas' trajectory for the season. The team last scored points in the Austrian Sprint race, and its last points-paying result in a Grand Prix came in April at Miami.
With no remedial fix available for the VF-23's tire-chewing tendencies, Hulkenberg outlined upgrades as the only solution.
“What we really need are some upgrades, some real performance to help ourselves. That’s what we need,” Hulkenberg said.
Speaking about their struggles at Spa, the German driver explained:
“Obviously, this track exposes the weaknesses of our car very much. It’s why we’ve not been competitive in any session. I think we can still improve the situation this year. To what extent TBC, it’s down to us and we have to prove it. But yeah, it’s a longer-term thing for sure."
Currently, Haas is eighth in the constructor's standings with 11 points, equalling Williams' tally in seventh.
