Nico Hulkenberg has admitted that “offset” strategies like the one Haas used in Saudi Arabia will be how lower teams score points across the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The German had qualified 15th due to a technical problem but capitalised on his team-mate Kevin Magnussen circulating at a reduced pace and holding up cars behind.
This enabled Hulkenberg, who had remained on track when the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 7, to build the necessary margin to pit and come out in a net 10th place.
The German’s point was enough to elevate Haas to sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship amid a noticeable gap emerging between the top and bottom outfits.
Hulkenberg suspects that taking advantage of incidents in the leading five teams and unusual strategic decisions is what Haas and its rivals will become dependent on.
“I think in races like this race [in Saudi Arabia] when, currently we have the top five teams, if they stay in the race, that’s the top 10 taken,” Hulkenberg told Autosport.
“So, I always feel you have to do something unorthodox and something not so [logical] or what seems like common sense.
“You have to obviously push your luck a little bit and do something different, offset yourself and, like in the past, that has often paid off.”
Former Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner admits that he’s been surprised with the field spread that has transpired having expected the grid to converge in 2024.
“I honestly thought this year it would be closer together, but the opposite happened,” he told ABC.
“We have got five teams on the top and then five teams on the bottom. It’s almost like two championships.
“But I think Ferrari this year, if they have got good progress in development, they could challenge Red Bull hopefully, in the second half of the season.”
Haas had instructed Magnussen to reduce his lap times once the Dane’s hopes of a points finish were wrecked when he picked up two separate 10-second penalties.
Despite complaints from both RB and Williams over the squad’s tactics, new Haas boss Ayao Komatsu hailed the combined effort to get Haas off the mark this season.
“[It] was an amazing team effort and I’m so happy that it was from great teamwork,” Komatsu added.
“We were fighting for P10 – one point – but against eight other drivers, so everything had to be perfect to take the opportunity.
“Once we realised was out of points contention, we made a great call and Kev drove fantastically to hold those guys back while setting a target lap time, and Nico drove faultlessly.”
