Nico Hulkenberg doesn’t think he has same feeling in the Sauber F1 car on one-lap pace as he had with Haas, but it is getting there after working through various things.
Even though Hulkenberg has a F1 podium against his name and is inside the Top 10 in drivers’ standings in a Sauber, the one-lap side hasn’t been as generous to the German driver. He is trailing by 11 to nine against rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in the 20 races done.
And it is two all in the sprint side. For several races, Hulkenberg has been knocked out in Q1 itself. For long, he has swayed away from expressing any issue, but after Mexico, he kind of dwelled into work done for months now to get things on the better side to secure better results.
After some work put in, he has started to feel the car under him on one lap side, but it is still not the same as he did with Haas, which was certainly a better run. “I think recently it’s been better – the last few,” said Hulkenberg. “But, like I said earlier, you never have a guarantee of a good feeling with the car.
“You need to work for it sometimes. But I certainly feel it’s beneath me now – I’m in control of things. I’ll try and intend to carry that forward till the end of the season. As I said, I think it has probably improved since a few weeks now.
“Obviously, I have just kept on working, kept on trying different things and you just keep your head down and sometimes it clicks and I think I feel the car a little bit better now beneath me, still not as good maybe as Haas in the previous two years. But it has probably improved as some,” summed up Hulkenberg.
Here’s Nico Hulkenberg helmet auction
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto on Mexico GP
