Günther Steiner has a lot of work ahead of him. His Haas car has enormous tire wear. © APA/afp / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

Steiner and his drivers are frustrated: “Like windfall”

Nico Hülkenberg did not imagine his long-awaited return to Formula 1 to be this sobering. “At the end of the day, the pace is not enough. The first five laps I was like windfall. I was simply eaten up,” said the only remaining German in the field after 15th place at the Spanish Grand Prix.

June 05, 2023

From: cst/dpa

Instead of racing for World Championship points or podium places, the 35-year-old finds himself at the back of the field in his inferior Haas racing car. 15, 17, 15, 17 – these are his last four placements so far. And there is no quick improvement in sight. Team boss Günther Steiner is challenged because the tire wear in the Haas team in particular is enormous.

“We are competitive on one lap, but not enough on 66. We have to work on that, that’s our weak point this season,” said Hülkenberg in Barcelona Sky. In the previous seven races of the season, the veteran had only scored points once, finishing seventh in Australia. In Catalonia he had a promising start in seventh place after a strong qualifying, but was unable to maintain his position in the first few laps and fell back.

Nico Hülkenberg is fast – but only for a short time. Then his Haas car eats up the tires. © APA/afp / GIUSEPPE CACACE

The US team's problem: They can't get tire wear under control. Because the rubber rollers lose quality so quickly due to the high demands placed on the car, the drivers Hülkenberg and his Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen are hopelessly outnumbered in the midfield. We now have to “crawl our way forward” through technical improvements as quickly as possible, said Hülkenberg, who took over the cockpit from Mick Schumacher at Haas at the beginning of the season.

Steiner is disappointed

Steiner spoke of a “disappointing result” and gave his team tasks with a view to the upcoming race in Canada in just under two weeks: “We have to try to find a solution to our tire failure.” The eccentric Meraner personally played a major role in this, that Hülkenberg is back in the premier motorsport class. Last year he was rarely satisfied with the 24-year-old Schumacher. According to Steiner, the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher lacked experience, caused expensive accidents and ultimately had to leave.