Hulkenberg: 'Sunday is one-way traffic in the wrong direction for Haas'

Nico Hulkenberg surprised all F1 fans by qualifying on the front row of the grid alongside Max Verstappen for the GP of Canada. His fast lap was partly driven too fast under the red flag forcing him to relinquish P2. In the end, it would have made little difference anyway.

So says the German Haas driver after his race in Montreal. On Saturday, the wet track prevented Hulkenberg from being bettered by the bulk of those competing in Q3. The lap Hulkenberg drove was investigated because the German had driven too fast and the red flag was out. A grid penalty put him back three places.

That penalty had made little difference to his final result for Sunday. Whether he started on P2 or P5, the Haas car lacks long-run space and is therefore of little value on Sunday. Hulkenberg said in a press statement: "It was a one-way street in the wrong direction today. It was to some extent expected, but we obviously always hope for the best so that it’s better than what you had in the previous event."

Hulkenberg continued: "It just once again confirms that we have a lot of work to do on the long run pace and entire consistency because that’s really hurting our Sunday." Team boss Guenther Steiner baulks just as much. The Haas boss sees that the tyres in particular are the pain point. In traffic, the wear is too severe.