Nico Hulkenberg Q&A: Dutch Grand Prix

Welcome back, Nico. Firstly, how was your summer break – we saw you on social media enjoying karting, going to see The Weeknd in concert, and celebrating your 36th birthday over the weekend. Do you feel rested and recharged? 

“I do feel rested and recharged. I also felt like that to be honest before the summer break, but it was three good weeks of quality time with family and friends. It was a good mix of action, but also quiet and peaceful time, as well as a lot of training in between which has been good but I’m very happy to get back.” 

 

The first race back after the summer break brings Formula 1 to the coastal town of Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. You have multiple ties to The Netherlands, can you share your affinity with the country and your thoughts on the track? 

“The town I was born in is just around the corner from the Netherlands, around 2km away, so growing up I spent a lot of time karting there and spent a lot of time working with Dutch people. For that reason, I speak Dutch, and I’ve got a lot of good memories. I’ve raced a lot at Zandvoort in Formula BMW, Formula 3 and in A1 Grand Prix. I think it’s a great track, really a rollercoaster with a lot of elevation changes, banking, and a good mix of everything so I’m looking forward to hitting the track in a Formula 1 car for the first time.”

What’s the mentality of the team coming back to the track after the break? Is it a case of resetting and looking ahead with renewed motivation, or do you need to be mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of the VF-23, with upgrades still due to be brought? 

“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously, we’re looking to find performance and we want to do better, we want to score more results and points. That just means work, bringing updates and maximizing all the chances you get, keeping the mistakes to a minimum and it will require everyone’s best effort and teamwork.”

 

As we move into a busy second half of the season, which races are you looking forward to and where do you think the best opportunities are for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team to capitalize on?

“It’s always difficult to speculate but we have a lot of highlights coming up in the second half, lots of venues that I personally enjoy a lot as well as a couple of new ones as well, like Qatar and Las Vegas for me. There’s lots to look forward to.”