The Haas driver, eighth in Montmel, talks to EL MUNDO about his return to the World Cup three years later
The garage of the modest Haas team in Montmel is a party. One of its pilots Nico Hulkenbergwill start this Sunday (3:00 p.m., Dazn) from seventh position ahead of Fernando Alonso. Here we have found a speed that we have never had before. It’s a fantastic feeling. Obviously there are still many things to improve, but I have a good rhythm and a very good feeling with the car, the German commented hours before in conversation with EL MUNDO. He was quite right. After what was seen in the classification, in Barcelona he can raise the level of an already special season for him. In the Australian race he finished seventh, the best result of the group this year, but in the other five tests held he finished far, far from the points. In any case, he’s back.
In 2019, after a decade in Formula 1, he was left without a steering wheel and until Haas’s call he had to work as a reserve at Racing Point and Aston Martin. At that time, his withdrawal was an option, as was he occupying Alonso’s current seat due to the departure of Sebastian Vettel, but you have finally found your place. At 35, at Haas you can extend his career for a while longer.
- Is it difficult to get your body used to a Formula 1 race again?
- No, no, physically I feel very well, although the breaks are not helping me to get up to speed. In April we had three weeks off, before Monaco two more… It’s also been a special season for me. I’m enjoying the process like never before, the days before the race, preparing the car with the mechanics, analyzing each corner… I guess I’m getting older and I value everything more.
- Is it cold outside the World Cup?
- In my case it was not bad. I needed to stop, focus on my family, recover my hunger for competition. In fact, I think I did really well for a while. Being outside changes your perspective, makes you grow. Obviously for a while I had doubts about my return, but now I feel more motivated than ever in my life.
- Did you ever lose the desire to return to this circus?
- In 2020 he came from a very difficult season and, as he said, he needed to stop. I wouldn’t say I lost the urge to go back, but I just wasn’t thinking about it. It was something that was not in my head. Then, in 2021, all of a sudden, it started to be hard for me to be outside, to see the other drivers on TV, and last year, that feeling intensified. From home I longed to have another opportunity, to be able to compete again.
- His car, the Haas, is not making it easy for him.
- We are in the pack, we are competitive, I think we are going in the right direction. It is true that up to now we have needed a perfect race to score points, but there is a lot of equality and we are always close. Fight for the podiums? We are not in that position, I should not think about it because there are four teams with a lot of resources, with a lot of advantage, and our fight is different at the moment.
- In his three years without an official steering wheel, he was a reserve for Racing Point and the team that succeeded him, Aston Martin. Are you surprised by the season they are doing?
- Hmm… I don’t know what to say. I had the feeling that the car was going to improve, but not that much. In 2021, Aston Martin began a very aggressive personnel signing policy, especially in a field as important today as aerodynamics. A lot of people came to the team, very, very good people. Now they are reaping the fruits of that effort.
- As team leader, Fernando Alonso, at the moment, has five podiums in six races.
- It is an example of how to keep that fire alive, that passion for driving. It is clear that he is a two-time world champion, but he was also out, he returned to Formula 1 and now, at 41, he is enjoying himself. It shows that in this sport you can last if you stay motivated. You don’t have to be in your twenties to get results.
- Also, from 2011 to 2016, he raced in Force India, which would become Racing Point and then Aston Martin. What remains of his time there?
- The factory, which remains the same, although they are going to open the new one soon and part of the team. Everything is different, of course, but at Aston Martin there are about 50 or 60 workers left from my time at Force India and it shows. In a modest team you learn to take advantage of every penny, to invent, to redouble efforts.
- He told me about being a twenty-something. Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, you and even Checo Pérez or Valtteri Bottas are from a different generation than the current one. Do you think there are differences with young people?
- (Thinks) Yes, maybe. Today’s pilots love simulators, they are a generation that has grown up with video games, wrapped in technology. We old people don’t like it that much, we prefer to touch the asphalt. Max [Verstappen]Lando [Norris] or George [Russell] they are quite gamers. The requirement is the same, the skills you need are the same, but they have simply learned differently.
- There is already talk of its renovation, of what will happen in 2024. Until when will you see yourself in this paddock?
- I am 35 years old and Fernando is 41, so imagine (laughs). I don’t know, my goal is that at the end of this season I can say: I have done well, I have given my maximum. If that happens, be happy no matter what. Then we’ll see.
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