Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher was not too enthusiastic about the last performance of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.
Hulkenberg and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc are tied in ninth and tenth place in the drivers’ standings after three races of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
The German finished seventh in Melbourne, though he was fourth when the race was stopped by a red flag for the third and final time.
He was behind Carlos Sainz in P3, who was later handed a five-second penalty for his role in a collision with Fernando Alonso.
“In general you have to say, if you saw how strong the Haas was last year, even with the pole position, you have to say the performance is a bit disappointing,” Ralf said.
“What is outstanding, to be fair, is Nico Hulkenberg’s qualifying performance, which makes the car look better than it is at the moment,” Ralf added.
While Hulkenberg said he was loving life back in the sport and looking forward to more of the same as the campaign develops.
“Yeah, I enjoy it, to say the last. I’m refreshed, I’ve got a good mindset, a very positive mindset. I’m feeling hungry,” Hulkenberg said.
“I really like and enjoy working with the team, exploiting the car, experimenting with the car.
“And we’ve got a very nice rhythm and momentum, and I think that’s what we want to preserve and keep now and take that into the next couple of races.” Hulkenberg added.
Hulkenberg took the unwanted record as the driver to have started the second-most F1 races without a win at Australian GP.
But, Hulkenberg has shown to be a more consistent driver than his Danish teammate Magnussen after returning to F1 as a regular driver.
The 35-year-old finished 15th in Bahrain, then finished 12th in Saudi Arabia and, as mentioned, finished seventh in Melbourne, adding his first six World Championship points for Haas Team.
This coming Sunday, the fourth World Championship round of this year will be held in Azerbaijan, Baku.
