Haas set to extend Hulkenberg contract for 2024

Nico Hulkenberg is set to remain on the F1 grid next season with Haas according to team boss Guenther Steiner.

The German was called upon by the US outfit at the end of last season to replace Mick Schumacher alongside incumbent Kevin Magnussen.

Save for a handful of outings with Racing Point/Aston Martin in 2020 and in 2022, when he subbed for the team's regular drivers, Hulkenberg had not raced full time in F1 since his final year with Renault in 2019.

But the 35-year-old has acquitted himself well this season, often outpacing Magnussen in qualifying and making the Q3 cut five times in the first half of the season.

Unfortunately, Hulkenberg's strong performances on Saturday afternoon were often undermined on race day by Haas' chronic tyre degradation issues.

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Nevertheless, the Hulk has contributed nine points to Haas' current tally of eleven points in the Constructors' standings which has encouraged Steiner to extend the German's original one-year deal with his team.

"[The new contract] will be worked on soon," Steiner told Sport.de. "Gene Haas is coming to the races in Belgium and Hungary.

"We’ve already talked about the contract, but it’s better to do it in person than by phone or video. The new contract won’t be long in coming.

"It’s coming and we hope to get it done as soon as possible to be able to announce a new deal, because we are very happy with Nico."

Steiner admitted to have been surprised by Hulkenberg's ability to perform well from the outset despite his lengthy break from full-time racing.

"I didn’t expect him to be in such good shape right away," said the Haas boss. "He hadn’t been a full-time driver for three years, but he came in here and it clicked right away.

"We knew he was good, but we didn’t see that he would be in such good shape immediately.”

"Within the team he has a good relationship with everyone. As a driver, he is good at explaining what he wants. It is nice to see how he performs and how he competes."

Haas is also likely to retain Magnussen, therefore keeping its driver line-up unchanged for 2024.

"Driver market-wise, I think we are in the moment where we are pretty happy with what we have got," Steiner said last month in Canada.

"Obviously we want to get to announce our drivers as soon as possible so we don't have to hang around like last year, a long time, telling you guys it'll be next race and then it gets boring!"

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