As Haas nears a decision on its 2025 driver lineup, Nico Hulkenberg has thrown his support behind teammate Kevin Magnussen.
Despite the Dane trailing Hulkenberg by 17 points this season, the German believes Magnussen's performance is closer than the standings suggest.
Hulkenberg has outperformed Magnussen since joining Haas last year, extracting more points from the often-struggling car.
The trend continued into 2024, with Hulkenberg recently securing consecutive sixth-place finishes in Austria and Britain. However, the German is quick to downplay the gap between himself and his teammate.
“Obviously, it’s not my responsibility and not my decision at all, but Kevin’s been also very consistent this year,” commented Hulkenberg, quoted by Motorsport Week.
“There were a few moments in sessions where really small details made a difference between him and myself and, often on TV, the outcome or the result looks massive.
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“But actually, it’s really small stuff from when I look at it, and obviously I have more access to data and see exactly what happened on his side.
“So I think he’s doing a solid job. I think he’s still a candidate, very much, for Haas or maybe some other teams.”
Haas has already signed up Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman for 2025, and it is believed that outgoing Alpine charger Esteban Ocon is at the top of the American outfit’s short list to fill its second seat.
But team boss Ayao Komatsu hasn’t dismissed Magnussen’s candidature.
“We have a shortlist and talking to several drivers and it’s getting towards the end of the process,” Komatsu said at Siverstone. “That of course includes Kevin.”
While Bearman’s results this season in the FIA F2 Championship have so far been rather subdued, the young Briton showcased his undeniable talent when he made his F1 debut with Ferrari at Jeddah last March after Carlos Saizn had fallen ill.
The 19-year-old’s subsequent run to an impressive seventh place on race day was likely a deciding factor in Haas’ decision to promote the young gun to a full-time race seat in F1.
©Haas
Nevertheless, Hulkenberg highlighted the steep learning curve facing Bearman and how performance is the only metric that matters.
“Congratulations, obviously first of all, to him and his team,” commented the future Audi driver. Hulkenberg. “He’s a young talent, with a lot of potential.
“It’s going to be interesting how he’s going to acclimatize on his arrival into Formula 1 as a rookie, there’s so much to learn, so much to process and he will be at the start of his career.
“Just do a good job. It’s simple – in F1, you have to perform, it’s all about performance. That’s everything that matters.”
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