A remarkable qualifying performance during the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying session saw Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hülkenberg qualify P4 – his strongest qualifying performance of the season. However, he will start Sunday’s race P7, after being handed a three-place grid penalty.
The German driver breezed through Q1 and Q2, showing the strong capabilities of VF-24, particularly in the critical middle sector of the Yas Marina Circuit. With an impressive lap time of 1:22.886, he finished just 0.291 seconds off the time set by pole-sitter Lando Norris.
However, the German’s hopes for a second-row start were dashed when he was handed a penalty for overtaking in the tunnel section of the pit exit. While Hülkenberg claimed to have had no other option, a three-place grid penalty was imposed.
Hülkenberg on his prospects for race day
Despite the setback, the German remains optimistic about delivering a strong performance on race day. Speaking after qualifying, he outlined his focus for the Abu Dhabi GP as “getting the best possible result” from the race.
“Obviously a few top dogs are out of position, and usually in a race, they still have quite a big advantage. Never say never, but it’s more about just having a good race, maximizing our potential, and getting the best possible result tomorrow.”
Hülkenberg praised the car’s performance throughout the Abu Dhabi GP weekend, describing the experience as seamless. He described the qualifying session as “enjoyable.”
“I think it was good from lap one. The car just felt in a sweet spot for some reason and felt really strong all weekend long. This quali… yeah, I don’t know. We went with the track, session by session, and I managed to go with that. It was a very enjoyable quali.”
The German driver also appeared satisfied with the VF-24’s race pace. He expressed confidence in Haas’ ability to compete with their midfield rivals, including Alpine, and stated that the Kannapolis-based team had demonstrated their race potential “many times” during the 2024 season.
“Race pace was good. I think we’re very close with all the other midfield guys, Alpine again. We felt alright, although we did something different yesterday. But I think we’ve demonstrated many times this season that we are pretty decent in races now too, but I expect us to very close with many other cars.”
“We’ll see what happens. It really depends on the circumstances, on the tyres every weekend, what the degradation’s like on any given weekend. “
“I don’t think that we will be able to challenge [Verstappen] over a whole race distance. I just don’t see that, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Haas’s strong form at Yas Marina
Hülkenberg attributed Haas’s competitive edge to the track’s characteristics, which he claimed, suited the strengths of the VF-24.
“I think these [track] characteristics just somehow really clicked with us and suit our car. I think a lot of our development has been around medium-speed corners, and you’ve got many of them here. Maybe it’s that, but the whole combination just somehow really worked well this weekend so far.”
