Nico Hulkenberg will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pit lane after Haas took his car out of parc ferme to make set-up changes.
He finished yesterday’s sprint race 15th, having started 12th, and suffered from severe graining on his tyres.“After the Safety Car, three or four laps and then my tyres were just completely shot,” he said yesterday. “I had not much to work with, to fight with. I was just dropping like a stone and I need to look at it, understand it, analyse it. It’s a bit of a question mark at the moment.”
The FIA confirmed Haas changed the set-up of the suspension on Hulkenberg’s VF-23. He indicated yesterday the team might have to make changes to his car ahead of the grand prix.
“[The tyres] grained so it’s not just no traction, it’s just no grip anywhere. And on a track like here, that’s obviously pretty sketchy and tricky and you feel very exposed.
“So some homework to do with the limited options now looking into tomorrow. We need to see what we want to do.”
The Haas driver was due to start today’s grand prix from 16th place after Alpine also decided to start Esteban Ocon from the pit lane.
Haas’ principal aerodynamicist Juan Molina said the team had identified the reason for the clear difference in performance between Hulkenberg’s car and that of team mate Kevin Magnussen in yesterday’s race.
“Yesterday there was an obvious difference,” he told media including RaceFans in Baku today. “So the guys have looked at the data and understood where it came from.
“But again, having not much practice, you’re going into the weekend already quite compromised if you don’t get everything right in P1. At least for Kevin, he had a very difficult P1, he’s quite happy with the car. In previous races he took a bit more time but now he’s getting there with the car so should be better for the rest of the season.”
Hulkenberg is competing at Baku for the first time since 2019 this year. Molina said he is still improving his tyre management after returning to full-time competition in F1.
“At the end of the day it’s how you set up the car, so again, we are learning,” he said. “Nico has been doing not too bad in the previous races also with managing the tyres. But it’s a learning process, we need to give him a bit more time.”
Bringing the F1 news from the source
RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters.
By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing.
We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Aston Martin radio messages reveal how “older brother” Alonso helps Stroll
- How slashing practice to a single hour in Baku tripped up F1 teams
- Bottas: “Rapid improvement needed” at Alfa Romeo
- Red Bull could become first team to score 1,000 points in a season
- Aston Martin hoping DRS fix works in Miami after Stroll manages fault in race
