Nico Hülkenberg is competing in his last race with Haas F1, after two seasons with the team. The German will join Sauber next year and he admits that he experienced great things at Haas, and that he did not expect such good results.
“Positive, with a lot of good emotions, with a lot of joy and fun that I have had in the last two years” Hulkenberg said. “I think we grew together and became very strong during that time, and it was a very fun journey with them.”
“I think we have, at least personally, exceeded the expectations that I personally had going into the extensions of my career after two years of absence.”
“And especially this year, I think we've had a lot of success and I think no matter where we end up on Sunday night, we've had a very successful year and we've already kind of won. But that doesn't mean that We’re not going to try this weekend.”
Asked about his best memory during the two seasons at Haas, the German is generally happy: “I think you always come back to the most successful races. But I think for me it's too simple. It was just, you know, the race and the journey together. Like I said, I had a lot of fun and joy.”
“And you know, I haven't always felt this much joy racing and working in Formula 1. So for me it's the best thing and obviously the overtime that is still to come from the year next time, I think that's probably the climax as well.”
Haas will try to regain sixth place from Alpine, and he details his objectives and hopes: “I think it's very tight. The whole middle of the field is very tight, as we've seen over the last few weekends. Little things can make a big difference.”
“I think it will be very difficult this weekend to turn things around after what happened last Sunday and the fact that Alpine scored a lot of points again. But our package is competitive. We are fast on merit . Personally, all I want to do is maximize and optimize this last weekend together and enjoy it.”
Hülkenberg says he is proud of the season that has just passed, and he hopes to do better at Stake F1 next year: “I would like to make fewer mistakes next year, but the middle of the pack is contested and the window is always very small, thin and narrow because we are so tight.”
“Sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone. You have to take risks, and mistakes are very easy to make. And with these cars, if you lose control, you often lose it in a big way. It's maybe- be a thing.”
“I'm very happy and proud of this season, of what we've done this year, of how we've bounced back from last year and where we started, and how we're getting back on track. We went out. Everyone in the team had two very good performances. It's a moment of happiness and pride.”
