Nico Hulkenberg says that his Haas Formula 1 team had a “good reaction” in Shanghai following a disappointing sprint event.
Hulkenberg qualified for the Saturday morning sprint in 13th and slipped back to 19th after struggling with tyre degradation.
The team took advantage of the new parc ferme rules to make changes for the afternoon’s main qualifying session, in which the German earned ninth place.
In Sunday’s Grand Prix he finished 10th and the best of the rest behind the cars from the top five teams.
It was his third score in five starts in 2024, following a 10th place in Jeddah and a ninth in Melbourne.
Asked by this writer if he was satisfied with his Shanghai weekend Hulkenberg said: “Definitely, especially after how it went yesterday morning [in the sprint], and also Friday in the sprint quali. A very good reaction, and recovery.
“It just shows that everything has to be perfect for us to put ourselves in that position, and we did that, two close-to-perfect sessions.
“And one point is all that’s available obviously, with one of the top five teams’ cars not being where it should be. And that’s all there is at the moment.”
Hulkenberg admitted that while the post-sprint setup changes worked the car could have been even better.
“I think always with more time you would still continue working and try to improve it,” he said. “But with the limited time and running, that’s what you have.
“Just the race felt very, very static from where I was sitting, and these cars it gets incredibly difficult to follow.
“I think the FIA should look into that again, because the dirty air effect is close to what it was again in 2019- 2020. And obviously that’s not great for racing and for dynamic action.”
Regarding the next event he said: “Miami is a super nice venue, a very special one for sure, one of our three home races. So we go there with good vibes, and expect a hot weekend, and see what we get.”
Adam Cooper F1 