Last year, the Haas car was much inferior and it was difficult for Hulkenberg to show service, but this year, in five races contested, he scored points in three of them, basically taking advantage of every opportunity he had to reach the top 10.
The fact that Hulkenberg won the 24h of Le Mans in 2015 for Porsche, when he worked with Andreas Seidl, also weighed in. The German, former McLaren boss, is heading the Audi project.
But Hulkenberg doesn’t arrive at Audi to be its first driver. The team has been focused since last year on trying to sign Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard first wanted to renew with Ferrari for 2025 in order to have more time to decide, but Lewis Hamilton’s move to the Italian team forced him to change his plans.
Now, Sainz has a difficult choice that has become even more complicated with Red Bull’s current situation. The Spaniard is also of interest to the team that is currently dominating F1. However, there are no guarantees that this dominance will continue with the new regulations, especially because Red Bull is, for the first time, making its own engine, with support from Ford.
On the other hand, Audi, despite being a car manufacturer, is also an unknown, both in relation to the engine, as they have no recent experience in F1, and in relation to the car, as it is clear that Sauber needs a lot of investment to fight among the big guys.
Audi is making this investment, but it is impossible to say how long it will take for them to level up, while it is impossible to know how Red Bull will be with the new regulations.
Tags: Hulkenberg Audi Sainz
