Plea for F1 veteran to belatedly be credited for overachieving drives

Nico Hulkenberg will be a major loss to Haas next year, they have been warned.

The 37-year-old F1 veteran will join Sauber next year ahead of their 2026 evolution into Audi, pairing a German driver with Germany’s major manufacturer.

It has the potential to become the most exciting switch in the F1 journey for Hulkenberg, which started 14 years ago and has included some negative moments.

Journalist Sam Power of Australia’s Channel 10 told the F1 Nation podcast that Hulkenberg should be praised: “It’s because we all somehow know he has a massive amount of talent, and we want to see it recognised.

“He’s done the hard yards. He’s gone out of the sport, he has deputised, found his way back in magically, he has survived and done it in incredible fashion.

“We knew the talent was there, it just needed the right set of circumstances.”

Hulkenberg’s F1 career appeared to be over when he left Renault in 2019.

But at Haas - despite them finishing bottom of the constructors’ championship last year - he has demonstrated his expertise.

In Singapore at the most recent grand prix, Hulkenberg scored points for the sixth time this season.

“This was the type of performance which will remind Ayao Komatsu about why he was so irritated to lose Nico for next year,” Lawrence Barretto commented in Singapore.

“There was a delay in talking to Nico to sort it out, then Audi came in. I’m not saying it would have changed his mind.

“The Nico in this spec, since he came back to the sport, everybody at Haas knows that every time he goes on track he will get the best out of the package.

“That’s all that any engineer wants. That’s why it’s such a hole that he will leave behind.

“He dropped back a few spots from where he started but he got the best out of the package. He defended from a Red Bull.  He did a phenomenal job.

“We’ve got all these rookies coming through but he’s one of the veterans who deserve to be here.”