“That is quite clearly a problem”: Nico Hulkenberg pinpoints ‘clear’ problem with Haas’ 2023 F1 challenger

Nico Hulkenberg revealed the issue he faced the most with the Haas throughout the 2023 F1 season as the team finished off at the bottom of the standings.

It was a disappointing season for the American outfit as they scored only 12 points and lost the pace they had built up. Nico Hulkenberg, who returned to the team with much anticipation, scored nine points and finished 16th in the world championship. After the final race in Abu Dhabi last week, he revealed that the main issue of the car was the pace. He told Sky Germany:

"I have demonstrated that the new car is not faster. And that is quite clearly a problem."

Another issue, as Nico Hulkenberg further said, was the car's development. The team used only one major upgrade package, which was introduced in COTA.

The German, however, had shifted back to the old-spec car as he found that to be more comfortable. His teammate Kevin Magnussen, though, was stuck on with the upgraded car.

"It’s a message to our factory, the engineers and the mechanic," Hulkenberg continued

"Next year, we have to do things differently. That has been our problem this year. Our development was at a standstill."

Hulkenberg had earlier warned the team about the unpredictability of the car, mentioning that ample work still remained.

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Nico Hulkenberg's earlier warning about Haas' drivability

Throughout the season, Haas seemed to be unpredictable. There were some qualifying sessions where their pace seemed promising (owing to the car's tire warm-up ability) but then lost out in the race.

Nico Hulkenberg had revealed that there were issues with the car earlier on, speaking about its unpredictable nature. He warned that the team needed a "clear step ahead" to develop further but they had not achieved it.

"It's not a clear step forward," he told Sky Sports Germany. "We understand that now and we know that. It feels similar in some places, better in some, and worse in some. At the end of the day, it's balanced. But we actually needed a real step forward in performance. Unfortunately, that didn't happen."

Hulkenberg still has a contract with Haas and will be continuing alongside Magnussen for the 2024 season as well. The team will have the maximum wind tunnel time, so there is hope for development further which could prove to be crucial.