Nico Hulkenberg believes that it's unlikely he would have been able to make a full-time return to Formula 1 if it hadn't been for his brace of stand-in performances for Aston Martin at the start of 2022.
The 35-year-old German driver had made 177 race starts since his debut with Williams in the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix by the time he bowed out at the end of 2019, having also raced for Force India, Sauber and Renault.
Hulkenberg made two mid-season guest appearances in 2020 sitting in for Racing Point drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll. And he was back in 2022 when Vettel again came down with COVID before the first race of the season.
By then Hulkenberg admitted that he was missing the adrenalin of being on the grid, and wanted to get back in the sport full time. It was the latest two supersub spots that helped him achieve that dream with Haas in 2023.
“I highly doubt that without the two races at the beginning of last year I would have gotten the seat," he told the Formula 1 website. "It put me on the map again with Guenther [Steiner, Haas team principal].
"They saw, ‘Okay, this guy still knows where the throttle pedal is!’," he continued. "I think [the two stand-in races] were the key and the door opener for me sitting here now."
Hulkenberg added that he thought his situation would be "very different" if those guest appearances hadn't come up, and compared them to the impact of Nyck de Vries sitting in for the unwell Alex Albon in last year's Italian GP.
"Without his Monza performance, that opportunity last year, I’m not sure he would have had a seat, so I think they were hugely important."
Although he's glad to be back in harness, Hulkenberg admitted that he had benefitted from having a time out from the daily grind of bring a Formula 1 driver.
“Right at the beginning, in 2020 ... I wanted some time away, I needed some time away, so at that point I was pretty relaxed," he recalled. "Then suddenly in 2021 there were weeks when it was harder to stand on the sidelines and watch drivers go out of the garage.
“In 2022 - so let’s say more or less 12 months ago, ten months ago - that feeling of wanting to be in the driving seat again came back very strong," he noted. "I had a clear intention, a clear plan that I wanted to pursue the opportunity of having a race seat again.”
Hulkenberg persuaded Steiner to select him over Mick Schumacher, after the youngster had a number of costly accidents in 2021 that strained the Haas finances. Hulkenberg by contrast is a safe pair of hands.
He's joined in the driver line-up by Kevin Magnussen, another driver handed a 'second chance' after what had appeared to be the end of his F1 career. The pair have clashed in the past but seem happy now as team mates.
“We actually broke the ice here 12 months ago when I stepped in for Seb," he revealed. “I decided to break the ice, reached out with a hand and with a smile, put his words into his face, and that’s where our relationship actually started.
“We’ve been hanging out over the winter in the UK, doing some marketing and media stuff, and so far, so good. I feel no tension or friction between us. He’s a dad too, now, so we are both in similar positions in our life."
Hulkenberg shone in his return in Bahrain when he was fifth fastest at the end of Friday practice, and made it through to the final round of qualifying on Saturday which has put him in fine spirits for the season ahead.
©Haas
“I feel happy to be back, first of all, because it was not clear and a given that I would get another full drive again," he said. "I’m happy about that and to be in the driving seat again.
“I feel quite good and positive. For me, it’s about the feeling you have in the car, and how confident you feel with the car," he said. "I think I’ve stepped in with quite a good level already and evolved that quite nicely.
“This is only the beginning, this is kind of ‘first week at school’, if you like," he acknowledged. "Obviously lots of exciting stuff happened. But with a new team the first few races are always like you’re in a new relationship, like in the honeymoon phase, so it’s all good.”
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