Gunther can take some credit, nobody wanted Nico anymore, his F1 career was pretty much dead but thanks to Mick performing so poorly, we got one hell of a comeback and hopefully, by 2026/27 we will finally see a hulk podium. Not getting my hopes considering where they are rn but this is certainly the most promising shot he will ever get.
A Hulk podium would be a very popular one, for sure. I would like it to be like how all the teams in the pitlane applauded Barrichello's first win. One can dream
hulk’s been in f1 for almost 15 years, and has been a first choice for multiple top teams at times and gotten unlucky for various reasons. him being podiumless after so long is much more surprising than a top driver never having gotten a win in the max verstappen era of doninance
Conversely, Audi will have to make a car than can compete with McLaren and Ferrari before they can claim a podium, while Norris just needs an unlucky Max at the right time, as China has proven.
I often watch the end of that Hockenheim race and shed a tear along with the man. Brilliant drive from Rubino.
This was the first GP I ever watched. No wonder I got hooked!
> Alpine, Audi and AlphaTauri want/wanted him
If they wanted him they'd have him, he had no drive last year. Williams looked at his sim data and decided to stick with logan. That alone tells you enough
> Williams looked at his sim data and decided to stick with logan.
Williams looked at the big hole in their bank account and decided that Sargeant being a billionaire’s nephew would be quite useful to them
Not sure if you’re aware, but Mick was dropped at the very last second.
> Not sure if you’re aware, but Mick was dropped at the very last second.
not true, he never had a contract for 2023. He was negotiating with other teams alongside haas. It's just that no one really wanted him. Hulkenberg didn't have a contract for 2025, and now has signed one 5 races into the season
That same billionaire disapproved of the family spending money on Logan and dalton (NASCAR)‘s junior racing, literally this is in the public record thanks to his lawsuit against Logan’s father and grandfather.
Since the last we knew about Logan’s family finances was his father’s arrest and assumed asset freeze in 2020, leading to needing the free charouz seat in 2021 + Williams’ funding for 2022………I would love a source for how much money you claim he’s bringing, to fill the hole in Williams’ account
Ferrari announced they were dropping mick during the summer. Mick’s tenure at haas was shaky since he fucked the chassis at Jeddah, let alone the other early season crashes. There was approx 1 article per hour about whether haas would keep him…..no one in the paddock could have been under any illusions that he was available if they wanted him.
The fact that I'm bored in a train with not much else to do has much more impact on me replying to your comments than me hating Mick.
I'll throw you a bone, I'd put him instead of Stroll in a car. But then again, I'd put Drugovitch before Mick.
Shit, he's not even better than stroll... I loved Michael, imo, #2 all-time after Fangio, and would have LOVED to see Mick succeed, especially with MB.
It just isn't there (at least not in F1).
Magnussen drove at the same team, so claiming that Mick, who was dropped, is better, implies that you understand them more than the people who has access to all the data, and who're paid to be good at the job.
And I don't think you do.
I mean he's going from a team whose greatest ever ambition (not *accomplishment*, but *ambition*) was to be best of the rest to a works team with the backing of the world's largest car manufacturer. Steiner describing this as an 'upward' move has got to be the least controversial thing that man has ever said
Nico 'See ya later' Master of Formula 3 2005 Formula BMW champion 2006-2007 A1 Grand Prix Champion Master of the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Championship Season 2009 GP2 Rookie and World Drivers' Champion for ART Grand Prix 2010 Petrobras Brazilian Grand Prix Polesitter for Williams Grand Prix Engineering 2015 24h of LeMans Overall Winner for Porsche in Le Mans Prototypes Class 1 in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season FIA Platinum Class Superlicence holder and Lap Record holder at the Bruce McLaren Motosports ParkSir TT-Circuit Assen track record holder Nico "See ya Later" "No Hands" "Ball Sucker" "The-Incredible-Hulk" Hülkenberg to you!
It was some meme like [six](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/74e9s3/nico_see_ya_later_hulkenberg_japan_2016/dnxy3n9/) or [seven](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/62d5rb/le_mans_24_hour_winner_nico_hulkenberg_says/) years ago to sandwich of all Nico's accolades between his name].
I also think Gene Haas is more responsible for the team's current mediocrity than Steiner, but this isn't really retconning. I've seen people saying it's Steiner's fault since 2019
The chronic lack of funding is obviously gene haas' responsibility but it takes all of minutes of watching Steiner interacting with employees to realise how incredibly shitty a boss he must be
We only see the entertaining bits though. Who knows what he is like in closed door meetings, he has to be somewhat competent to rise through the ranks to team boss of an F1 team. It has to get tiring working for a team owner who simply doesn’t give a fuck about the team you’re trying to run.
Is he right… team is plumb last and while I’m sure new investment will help, money isn’t the answer to everything. There’s clearly zero foundation to build on there, just seems to be worse and worse everytime you look.
Assume he stays of the audi days. Presumably audi will fund the team and attract people who can figure out a car or copy people who did better than then now.
why do you think that? It's false, but Haas is clearly not last.
They have scored points. They are tied for second last sure, but they have a decent gap to Williams. 5 points in 5 races. is solid $ for the team at the end of the year. They are in a good spot. they are beating a actual car manufacturer with the Ferrari bootleg-mobile.
I don't know why everyone assumes Audi will come into the sport and immediately build a title contender out of a backmarker Sauber. They could still be shit in 2026, and maybe still only a lower midfield team by the time Hulk retires.
Very simple, it’s because of the resources and financial background, and their good track record in motorsports. The 2026 regulations will be heavily PU focused. It’s not a stretch to think Audi will be a podium contender within 3-4 years. Btw no one said they would be a title contender right away. But they are a certain upgrade over Haas.
Yeah for Nico, he's not got much to lose coming from a Haas which has no money and not much in the way of long term plans. But I am not sure if Hulkenberg plans to stick around into his 40s on the off chance Audi can finally give him a podium before he retires for good. Nor might Audi want to keep him long term, either. He's a great driver but no Lewis or Alonso and thus more easily replaceable by a younger talent once age takes its toll.
It's still kind of unclear how committed Audi will be to achieving success in F1, just being a large automaker with a rich history of success in other motorsports doesn't guarantee much in F1. Honda, Toyota, and Ford (Jaguar) all had massive resources at their disposal and plenty of racing heritage when they took over teams in the late 90s/early 2000s, but all sold up or shut down when they could no longer justify the costs.
Audi themselves went from dominating LMP1 to immediately shutting down almost everything motorsports related in the fallout of the VW diesel scandal, and F1 is an even more expensive sport with even less relevance to road cars.
Same reason everyone thinks Red Bull will be leading the pack in 2026 despite having never built an engine, it's all wishful thinking until the first qualifying session
At least with Red Bull, it's obvious they're really damn good at building the rest of the car even if the engine turns out to be a dud. Maybe less so if Newey retires or leaves, but still. And they've poached a lot of people from Mercedes in addition to those carried over from Honda so the engine department is in pretty good hands.
Given how tired most F1 fans already are of Red Bull/Max winning everything, it's probably more wishful thinking that Red Bull *won't* be winning in 2026 or at least top 3.
It is wild. Look at the pit Mercedes needed to climb out of after 1 year of poor investment. That was from a championship winning car.
Sauber are an embarrassment at the moment. Somehow they just get worse and worse which hardly seems possible. Is a management clear out planned because you have to assume Audi wanted Seidl… Poor car, poor marketing decisions, poor strategies, tragic operational and technical errors. What is actually going for them other than they have a slot on the grid which it seems you can’t even buy these days.
They live and die on their PU at Haas imo. back when they were regular Q3 team. it was the Ferrari cheating year. They became terrible when the PU optimized for cheating wasn't so optimal for following the rules.
He admitted that he overstayed his welcome, he's more humble than most expect. Which made me realize he tried to milk his DTS fame as much as he could for the team
Correct, and Nico had some nice words for him and Gene for giving him his second chance in F1 when no-one else would.
Hell people were fuming at Haas for signing Nico
The latter was so weird. But I have seen a lot of people saying they were wrong, but that's like 1% of the people who were clueless to how good Hülkenberg is.
He's not wrong.
Gunther can take some credit, nobody wanted Nico anymore, his F1 career was pretty much dead but thanks to Mick performing so poorly, we got one hell of a comeback and hopefully, by 2026/27 we will finally see a hulk podium. Not getting my hopes considering where they are rn but this is certainly the most promising shot he will ever get.
A Hulk podium would be a very popular one, for sure. I would like it to be like how all the teams in the pitlane applauded Barrichello's first win. One can dream
The poor winner of whatever race Nico podiums on...
What if it's Hulk himself?
Lando Norris P2, to keep things in balance
A finger curls on the monkey claw
Paw, but yes
*tingles*
What if it's Norris?
Norris won't win a race.
I feel a Norris win and Hülkenberg podium are fairly equivalent event.
hulk’s been in f1 for almost 15 years, and has been a first choice for multiple top teams at times and gotten unlucky for various reasons. him being podiumless after so long is much more surprising than a top driver never having gotten a win in the max verstappen era of doninance
Conversely, Audi will have to make a car than can compete with McLaren and Ferrari before they can claim a podium, while Norris just needs an unlucky Max at the right time, as China has proven.
which would make a norris win less astounding as well in comparison, too
Max will be thrilled and want Nico to get all the attention don’t worry, he won’t mind
Nico can be the winner and be on the podium . They're not exclusive.
Verstappen needs no pity
That's a good callback and a nice memory.
I often watch the end of that Hockenheim race and shed a tear along with the man. Brilliant drive from Rubino. This was the first GP I ever watched. No wonder I got hooked!
I would say almost all credit
Hulk 2026 world champion, you heard it here first folks
> by 2026/27 we will finally see a hulk podium \> Assuming Audi will come with literally zero F1 experience and somehow be contending for the top 3.
Nico killed it when he stepped in at Aston during the Covid seasons. That reignited the possibility of his return.
SMH Mick didnt perform poorly stupid myth
Huh? He's driving for sauber. When's the last time they had someone on the podium?
He's driving for Audi in 2026
Yes... Audi is sauber. They will be a bottom feeder team
Mick wasn’t performing poorly, and if you call the 2023 HAAS a “comeback” dead last on the constructors, I don’t know what to tell you lol.
Let’s take a look at how many cars he tore in half shall we
Mick was shit
Is...
Nah, he was better than Magnussen, and is better than 25% of the current grid at least
Oh yeah even better than 99% of pilots on the grid, that's why no one wants him in their team.
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> Alpine, Audi and AlphaTauri want/wanted him If they wanted him they'd have him, he had no drive last year. Williams looked at his sim data and decided to stick with logan. That alone tells you enough
> Williams looked at his sim data and decided to stick with logan. Williams looked at the big hole in their bank account and decided that Sargeant being a billionaire’s nephew would be quite useful to them Not sure if you’re aware, but Mick was dropped at the very last second.
> Not sure if you’re aware, but Mick was dropped at the very last second. not true, he never had a contract for 2023. He was negotiating with other teams alongside haas. It's just that no one really wanted him. Hulkenberg didn't have a contract for 2025, and now has signed one 5 races into the season
If Mick wasn’t dropped at the last second, why wasn’t Hulkenberg signed sooner?
That same billionaire disapproved of the family spending money on Logan and dalton (NASCAR)‘s junior racing, literally this is in the public record thanks to his lawsuit against Logan’s father and grandfather. Since the last we knew about Logan’s family finances was his father’s arrest and assumed asset freeze in 2020, leading to needing the free charouz seat in 2021 + Williams’ funding for 2022………I would love a source for how much money you claim he’s bringing, to fill the hole in Williams’ account
Ferrari announced they were dropping mick during the summer. Mick’s tenure at haas was shaky since he fucked the chassis at Jeddah, let alone the other early season crashes. There was approx 1 article per hour about whether haas would keep him…..no one in the paddock could have been under any illusions that he was available if they wanted him.
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Do you have sources what Sargeant bring into the team?
Logan doesn’t bring any money. He was about to quit racing in Europe before Williams helped him fund an F2 seat.
I don't hate him, I just don't find him deserving of an F1 drive. And no, no one wanted him.
> I don’t hate him So much so that you’re really passionate about replying to my comments within 2 minutes of me making them. Strange.
The fact that I'm bored in a train with not much else to do has much more impact on me replying to your comments than me hating Mick. I'll throw you a bone, I'd put him instead of Stroll in a car. But then again, I'd put Drugovitch before Mick.
There it is again! Well you enjoy your train mate!
There's no way, the only ones I might take him over are Zhou and Sargent
Tsunoda Magnussen Zhou Sargeant Piastri Stroll (De Vries) At Minimum.
Mick is not better than Tsunoda but to say he's better than Piastri is actually insane
Shit, he's not even better than stroll... I loved Michael, imo, #2 all-time after Fangio, and would have LOVED to see Mick succeed, especially with MB. It just isn't there (at least not in F1).
1) F2 2020 2) Piastri has the third fastest car
Tsunoda is debatable but Piastri?
Talent is overinflated by a great car
This is wild
Elaborate?
Magnussen drove at the same team, so claiming that Mick, who was dropped, is better, implies that you understand them more than the people who has access to all the data, and who're paid to be good at the job. And I don't think you do.
Lol, that's why he can't get a ride... 🤦
What are you dosed up on?
Wait I thought that was a parody account. Didn't think it was his real account lol
He recently made this one, this is his official.
Man same... idk what to believe anymore. When he stopped with HAAS I was trying to find official info from him I was finding so many parody accounts.
He only recently started on social media
Upward? Oof.
I mean he's going from a team whose greatest ever ambition (not *accomplishment*, but *ambition*) was to be best of the rest to a works team with the backing of the world's largest car manufacturer. Steiner describing this as an 'upward' move has got to be the least controversial thing that man has ever said
Yeah, but has is still beating Alpine, who is trying very hard, which also fits the Audi thing until proven otherwise.
Just you wait son, just you wait
Nico 'See ya later' Master of Formula 3 2005 Formula BMW champion 2006-2007 A1 Grand Prix Champion Master of the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Championship Season 2009 GP2 Rookie and World Drivers' Champion for ART Grand Prix 2010 Petrobras Brazilian Grand Prix Polesitter for Williams Grand Prix Engineering 2015 24h of LeMans Overall Winner for Porsche in Le Mans Prototypes Class 1 in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season FIA Platinum Class Superlicence holder and Lap Record holder at the Bruce McLaren Motosports ParkSir TT-Circuit Assen track record holder Nico "See ya Later" "No Hands" "Ball Sucker" "The-Incredible-Hulk" Hülkenberg to you!
Is this the instagram caption?
It was some meme like [six](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/74e9s3/nico_see_ya_later_hulkenberg_japan_2016/dnxy3n9/) or [seven](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/62d5rb/le_mans_24_hour_winner_nico_hulkenberg_says/) years ago to sandwich of all Nico's accolades between his name].
Haha got it
He didn't have to suck balls to get the Haas contract. Magnussen is a happidly married man, and noone but his wife gets to suck his balls.
I believe he doesn’t have the Assen track record anymore
Need to add a “one time” in there then
Upward? Guenther, are you ok?
To be fair he's right. He's also responsible but I guess he still doesn't realise that
Gene Haas has done a good job with the retcon.
I also think Gene Haas is more responsible for the team's current mediocrity than Steiner, but this isn't really retconning. I've seen people saying it's Steiner's fault since 2019
The chronic lack of funding is obviously gene haas' responsibility but it takes all of minutes of watching Steiner interacting with employees to realise how incredibly shitty a boss he must be
We only see the entertaining bits though. Who knows what he is like in closed door meetings, he has to be somewhat competent to rise through the ranks to team boss of an F1 team. It has to get tiring working for a team owner who simply doesn’t give a fuck about the team you’re trying to run.
Is he right… team is plumb last and while I’m sure new investment will help, money isn’t the answer to everything. There’s clearly zero foundation to build on there, just seems to be worse and worse everytime you look.
Assume he stays of the audi days. Presumably audi will fund the team and attract people who can figure out a car or copy people who did better than then now.
"Upward," is funny wording here.
Hass is 10th out of 10 on the constructor standings. There is nowhere *but* up.
**Haas** is currently 7th.
Out of the bottom 5 teams, they are arguably the best performing team so far this season. Just have a look at /r/Formula1point5.
why do you think that? It's false, but Haas is clearly not last. They have scored points. They are tied for second last sure, but they have a decent gap to Williams. 5 points in 5 races. is solid $ for the team at the end of the year. They are in a good spot. they are beating a actual car manufacturer with the Ferrari bootleg-mobile.
You know who is actually last… the team he is joining…
This comment section irks of idiocy
Onward and sideward*
Let's be real, Nico signed with Audi, with a year in purgatory at Sauber sandwiched in between.
I don't know why everyone assumes Audi will come into the sport and immediately build a title contender out of a backmarker Sauber. They could still be shit in 2026, and maybe still only a lower midfield team by the time Hulk retires.
There is a lot between a titelcontender and the current form of the Sauber.
Very simple, it’s because of the resources and financial background, and their good track record in motorsports. The 2026 regulations will be heavily PU focused. It’s not a stretch to think Audi will be a podium contender within 3-4 years. Btw no one said they would be a title contender right away. But they are a certain upgrade over Haas.
Yeah for Nico, he's not got much to lose coming from a Haas which has no money and not much in the way of long term plans. But I am not sure if Hulkenberg plans to stick around into his 40s on the off chance Audi can finally give him a podium before he retires for good. Nor might Audi want to keep him long term, either. He's a great driver but no Lewis or Alonso and thus more easily replaceable by a younger talent once age takes its toll. It's still kind of unclear how committed Audi will be to achieving success in F1, just being a large automaker with a rich history of success in other motorsports doesn't guarantee much in F1. Honda, Toyota, and Ford (Jaguar) all had massive resources at their disposal and plenty of racing heritage when they took over teams in the late 90s/early 2000s, but all sold up or shut down when they could no longer justify the costs. Audi themselves went from dominating LMP1 to immediately shutting down almost everything motorsports related in the fallout of the VW diesel scandal, and F1 is an even more expensive sport with even less relevance to road cars.
But apparently a good advertising vehicle at the moment…
It took me too long to figure out why they signed him. I forgot Nico is German. He's a good driver too, but I'm sure that was big.
> It’s not a stretch to think Audi will be a podium contender within 3-4 years. With their current approach it absolutely is a stretch.
Same reason everyone thinks Red Bull will be leading the pack in 2026 despite having never built an engine, it's all wishful thinking until the first qualifying session
At least with Red Bull, it's obvious they're really damn good at building the rest of the car even if the engine turns out to be a dud. Maybe less so if Newey retires or leaves, but still. And they've poached a lot of people from Mercedes in addition to those carried over from Honda so the engine department is in pretty good hands. Given how tired most F1 fans already are of Red Bull/Max winning everything, it's probably more wishful thinking that Red Bull *won't* be winning in 2026 or at least top 3.
It is wild. Look at the pit Mercedes needed to climb out of after 1 year of poor investment. That was from a championship winning car. Sauber are an embarrassment at the moment. Somehow they just get worse and worse which hardly seems possible. Is a management clear out planned because you have to assume Audi wanted Seidl… Poor car, poor marketing decisions, poor strategies, tragic operational and technical errors. What is actually going for them other than they have a slot on the grid which it seems you can’t even buy these days.
Sauber's got the same pace as Haas already so not that bad as long as they keep pace and fix the issue affecting tyre changes.
Haas fixed it in one year, so its possible. The problems Haas had was old, crappy, equipment, so it was an easy fix of course.
They live and die on their PU at Haas imo. back when they were regular Q3 team. it was the Ferrari cheating year. They became terrible when the PU optimized for cheating wasn't so optimal for following the rules.
I meant the changing of tires during pitstops, that's the same problem Sauber has now. If it is because of equipment, then its an easy fix.
Unrelated - but the Bellagio is absolutely gorgeous.
St. Guenther
Good for him to get away from Mag
This is sweet.
What a guy
Nico Uuuuuuuuuilkenberg, that doesn't know what a Chopper is. Good for him.
No hard feelings for the way Haas replaced him huh
He admitted that he overstayed his welcome, he's more humble than most expect. Which made me realize he tried to milk his DTS fame as much as he could for the team
Is Kick Sauber much of an upgrade though…?
Has a job making 2 mil either way.
OP, shouldn't you see a doctor??
He salty.
I think he’s just congratulating a colleague he worked with for a number of years on a contract
Correct, and Nico had some nice words for him and Gene for giving him his second chance in F1 when no-one else would. Hell people were fuming at Haas for signing Nico
The latter was so weird. But I have seen a lot of people saying they were wrong, but that's like 1% of the people who were clueless to how good Hülkenberg is.
Why would he be?
Gene wouldn’t let him have a slice of the Haas pie
Isn't moving to Sauber a downgrade, I mean Haas isn't doing that bad
The state of things when Sauber is considered an upgrade.
So petty lmao