Nico Hulkenberg reveals his quirky birthday gift for former McLaren driver

Nico Hulkenberg recently revealed a bizarre item he gifted to the former McLaren driver and his current teammate at Haas, Kevin Magnussen, for his 31st birthday. Hulkenberg also mentioned that the gift was somewhat of an inside joke about the team.

While attending the drivers' press conference prior to the 2023 F1 Qatar GP, Nico Hulkenberg was asked about his gift to the Danish driver, whose birthday was on Thursday, October 5. The German driver initially replied that he got him a cake along with a special gift. When further asked, he revealed it was a toilet brush, which was bizarre yet humorous to learn.

He said:

"Yeah, he got a cake and another special gift later. It’s a personal one. It’s a toilet brush."

When asked by Tom Clarkson, the press conference's presenter, whether it was an inside joke about the Haas F1 team, Nico Hulkenberg agreed and laughed that people better not want any more details on it. He concluded:

"Exactly! [its an inside joke at Haas] Not sure you want more details!"

Despite both not having the greatest of relationships in the past, the Haas drivers have left their beef behind and are now decent teammates of each other, if not the best of friends. They have hardly had any on or off-track incidents with each other—at least nothing that was caught on the broadcast.

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Nico Hulkenberg on how he broke the ice with Kevin Magnussen after their verbal fight after 2017 F1 Hungarian GP

Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast a few days ago, Nico Hulkenberg explained how his relationship with Kevin Magnussen has come a long way since their verbal fight after the 2017 F1 Hungarian GP. He also told the story of their first amusing and positive interaction with each other in 2022 during the drivers' photoshoot.

Hulkenberg said:

"It's good. It's very good. Hungary 2017 is way past us. Actually, since last year, we started to have a good relationship. So Bahrain last year, on Sunday morning, drivers turned up on the grid to do the beginning of your photo with everyone."

"I stood in for Seb and I think Kevin was the first guy standing there. He was on the little podium and my designated spot was right in front of him. So I approached him and then reached out my hand and gave him his exact words to his face. He found that quite funny and amusing."

The German driver is ahead of Magnussen at 14th in the drivers' championship with nine points, whereas the latter is in 18th with only three points.