Nico Hulkenberg‘s contract at Haas could be extended very soon according to the Formula 1 team’s boss Gunther Steiner.
The German has been a star behind the wheel this season after returning to F1 full-time, especially in qualifying where he has out-performed Red Bull‘s Sergio Perez in terms of Q3 appearances this season.
Hulkenberg‘s current deal is just for 2023, but both he and Haas want to extend that into 2024 given his exceptional performances on track. Steiner hopes that a deal can be struck and announced very soon.
“Mr [Gene] Haas is coming to Hungary and Spa,” Steiner told the media. “We’ve already talked about it.
“But it’s nicer when you can do it in person than by phone or video. It won’t take us long. Hopefully, we can announce it as soon as possible. We’re happy with him.”
Taken by surprise
Steiner did not expect Hulkenberg to come back into full-time racing and be as quick as he has been across the entire F1 season, even though he hasn’t scored the points his qualifying has deserved.
‘The Hulk’ has out-performed Kevin Magnussen so far this year, who himself came in late for 2022, and that has been a strong feather in his cap when it comes to negotiations.
“I didn’t expect him to get in shape straight away,” Steiner added. “He came straight in and it worked immediately.
“We knew he was good, we all knew that, but we didn’t know that he’d be on form straight away.”
