Nico Hulkenberg has revealed that he contacted the Haas F1 team earlier this summer to propose a return to F1 in 2023.
Haas F1 Team announced on Thursday 17 November that they have signed Nico Hulkenberg to replace Mick Schumacher as Kevin Magnussen for 2023.
Nico Hulkenberg will return to F1 full-time for the first time in three years since losing his Renault seat at the end of 2019. Hulkenberg, who was working as Aston Martin’s reserve driver in 2022, has raced in Bahrain and Arabia Saudi as a replacement for Sebastian Vettel, who was infected with the new coronavirus.
Nico Hulkenberg called Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner over the summer to say he was interested in the seat after noticing growing interest in a return to F1.
“Even after coming out in 2019, of course I was happy. I took a breather and caught my breath,” said Hulkenberg.
“In 2021 nothing happened and even at the beginning of the year I didn’t put too much emphasis on it or think about it”.
“But as summer approached, it was somehow growing inside me again. When I got to the races and saw the action and excitement, the desire to come back was there.”
“And then the discussion started.”
Nico Hulkenberg said negotiations became “more specific and serious” last month when the Haas F1 team considered driver options. Subsequently, the retention of Mick Schumacher or an agreement with Antonio Giovinazzi was ruled out, and last Wednesday a deal was finally signed with Nico Hulkenberg.
Before interest in a return to Formula 1 spiked again, Nico Hulkenberg explained he was “not too stressed out” about returning to full-time as he was “enjoying life away from the driver’s seat”.
“I was much more relaxed and had other advantages. But then the desire to get back on the grid, to race, to beat, to sit in the driver’s seat crept in”.
“So I wasn’t scared.”
Nico Hulkenberg will drive the Haas F1 Team car for the first time in post-season testing in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday before making his racing debut for Haas F1 Team at the Bahrain Grand Prix next March.
Nico Hulkenberg, who has experience with the 2022 F1 car from the first two races of the year and has also done tire testing since then, said: ‘It takes a few times to get up to speed, get used to the car and work from there. I think that it is necessary to run
“For tomorrow the most important thing is to understand Formula 1, especially this Haas car, because it gives us a small advantage for next year,” said Hulkenberg.
“There’s not a lot of three days of pre-season testing before the first event, so it’s a bit of a teaser for me and a lot of the basics of how this car and this system works and how it fits in as a driver. It’s important to take off already clearing things out.”
“I never knew what was going to happen until I signed the deal, but it got more and more specific and serious last month and I was optimistic and confident that we could agree to a deal,” Hulkenberg said on Monday. Marina circuit.
Category: F1 / Nico Hulkenberg / Hearth
