How F1's comeback merchant can make a lasting impression at Haas

It's shaping up to be the year of the comeback. Flip phones are all the rage again, David Tennant is set for a (brief) return as Doctor Who, and TV school drama Waterloo Road is ringing the bell for a new class after an eight-year hiatus. It’s like the clocks have rewound to 2010.

So, what better time for F1’s serial comeback king to make his return to the grid? Nico Hulkenberg is, in the words of Take That (another act which had a successful second coming), back for good, joining Haas for his first full season of racing since being axed by Renault at the end of 2019.

Newcomers to F1 may only know of Hulkenberg through his depiction in Drive to Survive as the grid’s perennial nearly man, holding the unwanted record of the most grand prix starts (181) without a podium finish. When he was dropped by Renault to make way for Esteban Ocon, most felt he’d had his chance in F1 and largely failed to make the most of it. He was a safe pair of hands, but not the man who would really make the difference.

Yet, in his time away, Hulkenberg’s stock, strangely, only rose. Stand-in appearances for Racing Point in 2020 when both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were sidelined by COVID-19 threw Hulkenberg an unexpected opportunity which he made the most of, the high point coming when he qualified third for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. The ‘Hulkenback’ phenomenon was born, revived when he again featured for ‘Team Silverstone’ – by then Aston Martin – in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia last year in place of Sebastian Vettel. The solid performances at late notice served as a reminder to the F1 world that Hulkenberg still had what it took to race at the highest level.

Despite his ‘supersub’ appearances, Hulkenberg wasn’t hankering to return full-time. He felt in need of a break and to disconnect a bit from F1. He carved out a settled life for himself, getting married and becoming a father. There was an enjoyment for life without the stresses that come with racing in F1, dovetailing reserve driver duties for Aston with TV work, and even turning down chances in other categories.

Despite his strong supersub showings, Hulkenberg hadn't actively pursued a full-time F1 return until last summer

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“I was happy,” Hulkenberg says. “I had some distance and a breather from it. I wasn’t stressing or thinking about it too much.”

If his time racing properly in F1 was over, then so be it. But, as the 2022 season neared its halfway point in the summer months, something changed: Hulkenberg wanted to get back in F1.

“It sort of crept back, the desire to come back on the grid, to go racing, to kick ass!” he says. “And then the discussions started.”

It was Hulkenberg who made first move, calling up Haas team principal Gunther Steiner over the summer. As the driver-market jigsaw began to fall into place, it was clear that Mick Schumacher’s future at Haas was looking bleak, making it a viable open seat. Haas always maintained it wouldn’t rush into any decision; its list of candidates ran to double digits at one stage. Antonio Giovinazzi was leading the race for the seat, only to blow his chance with a clumsy practice crash in Austin. It’s little coincidence that around the same time, talks with Hulkenberg began to accelerate.

"He was in F1 a long time. He was with teams in the midfield for a long time, so he knows how they work, how to make them better" Gunther Steiner

“It got more concrete and serious, and I was getting more optimistic and confident that we could agree a deal,” Hulkenberg recalls.

On the Wednesday before the Abu Dhabi GP, he landed in Dubai to find a contract waiting for him that sealed his F1 return. The announcement he would be back full-time in 2023 came the next day.

Hulkenberg was happy to play to the ‘Hulkenback’ trend his stand-in performances had spawned, announcing his return with a series of memes on Instagram which had joked about him being a replacement for girlfriends, footballers and even world leaders such as Boris Johnson and Joe Biden.

“It’s quite funny how enthusiastic and how creative they are, coming up with all these things,” Hulkenberg says. “Social media over the last few years since I left has just grown more and more and exploded, and is a very present part of F1.”

Hulkenberg has enjoyed the social media attention his cameo outings have spawned

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The growth of social media and F1 itself points to just how much has changed since Hulkenberg has been away – and how long it has been. He admitted after his test day with Haas in Abu Dhabi that his neck felt sore, having gone so long without the unmatched physical stresses of F1 machinery. So why did Haas think a 35-year-old driver who had not raced full-time for three years would be its best bet for 2023, particularly after investing the previous two seasons in Schumacher’s development?

“Experience,” says Steiner. “He was in F1 a long time. He was with teams in the midfield for a long time, so he knows how they work, how to make them better. We looked at it: wherever he was, the team always made progress. We hope that’s our aim, to do that as well here.”

Steiner is correct to point to Hulkenberg’s record with midfield teams. Haas will be his fifth team in F1 after stints at Williams, Sauber, Force India and Renault, a wealth of experience that can be of benefit to Haas. Hulkenberg consistently punched above his weight through this time, even coming close to a Ferrari seat at one stage. His stock only started to drop at Renault upon Daniel Ricciardo’s arrival. Then, at his peak, the Australian was simply a cut above what Hulkenberg could produce.

Moving for Hulkenberg also points to the lack of faith Haas had in Schumacher. Year one might have been a write-off owing to the lack of car development, but there was no excuse for the huge gap between Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen through 2022, nor the mistakes or crashes.

Tensions also arose at points when Schumacher didn’t follow the team’s instructions, notably in Austria when he was told not to fight on-track with Magnussen but did so anyway. Steiner admits that even if Schumacher, not Magnussen, had scored pole in Brazil, it wouldn’t have been enough to save his seat.

The Haas project appealed to Hulkenberg after its upswing last year. Although the VF-22 car got just one major update all season, it remained a competitive car through much of the campaign. The arrival of new title sponsor MoneyGram will take Haas up to the budget cap, allowing it to properly invest for the future.

“It’s obviously a team with potential,” says Hulkenberg. “2021 was very tough. They bounced back to eighth [last season] and I think there’s still room for improvement. There’s things we can do better as a team. I’m here because I want to extract that.”

Hulkenberg is now one of the grid's elder statesmen, respected for his experience of punching above his weight in average cars - such as taking fourth with Sauber in the 2013 Korean GP

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

It marks a big change of direction for Haas, going from two rookies with Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin to Magnussen and Hulkenberg, who have 322 starts between them, in two years. But there was always a feeling of ‘needs must’ in the past for Haas, especially on the sponsorship front. It’s something Steiner recognises.

“Two years ago, we were in a different position,” he says. “Now we’re in a different position again; a much better position now.”

Pairing Magnussen and Hulkenberg is not without its concerns, most of which relate to a media pen incident in Hungary in 2017. After the race, Hulkenberg interrupted Magnussen’s TV interview to call him “the most unsporting driver on the grid”, to which Magnussen famously replied: “Suck my balls, honey!” It’s a quote that stuck, much to Magnussen’s subsequent annoyance.

The two Haas drivers even share common ground as two of only three dads who will be racing this year, and both suggest they can share advice about nappy brands for their young kids. But they won’t force a friendship that isn’t there

The duo didn’t speak for some time, but renewed contact in Bahrain last year. Hulkenberg bounded up to Magnussen in the airport and went straight in with “suck my balls!” to break the ice. It did the trick.

“He found it quite funny and amusing,” says Hulkenberg, who anticipates a healthy working relationship. “I have absolutely no worries working and racing alongside him. We’re both adults, we respect each other and we’ll race for the team. So no problems whatsoever.”

Magnussen is on the same page, having made clear to Steiner early on that he had zero issues with Hulkenberg as a possible team-mate. They even share common ground as two of only three dads who will be racing this year, and both suggest they can share advice about nappy brands for their young kids. But they won’t force a friendship that isn’t there.

“I don’t think you need to be best pals,” says Magnussen. “There’s no pressure to build something away from the track. I respect him as a driver. That’s the only thing that matters.”

Hulkenberg and Magnussen have past history but neither anticipates problems at Haas this year

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Magnussen’s success with Haas last year can be an inspiration to Hulkenberg. Magnussen was also at peace with his F1 career having ended, only to be pulled back in and hit a new peak with pole in Brazil. The Dane has spoken of how the break from F1 did him good, taking away some of the pressure he felt to perform and injecting a new-found love for the series. A similar freshness could work wonders for Hulkenberg.

“A lot is up in here,” says Hulkenberg, tapping his head. “You’ve got to be happy, fresh and in the good mindset. If you get into a cycle where you don’t have that, then it gets tough. Then uncomfortable questions come, and performance, it’s just like a negative circle. So if you break away from it, become fresh, it’s good and healthy.”

F1 will get a happy, healthy Hulkenberg who has relit his fire when he lines up on the grid in Bahrain. And while his podium-less record will always be easy fodder for his critics, the experience and knowledge he brings may be exactly what Haas needs to continue its revival.

Can Hulkenberg remind F1 what it's been missing on his latest comeback with Haas?

Photo by: Mark Sutton