{"id":17647,"date":"2023-12-22T05:40:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T10:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=17647"},"modified":"2023-12-22T05:40:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T10:40:33","slug":"f1-news-nico-hulkenberg-open-to-sauber-move-after-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/12\/22\/f1-news-nico-hulkenberg-open-to-sauber-move-after-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 News: Nico Hulkenberg open to Sauber move after 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite making F1 news headlines for his impressive qualifying results, Nico Hulkenberg wants a more competitive race car in 2024.<\/h3>\n

Nico Hulkenberg was a subject of relative controversy when Haas announced his arrival for the 2023 season. However, it wasn’t long before the 36-year-old once again proved his abilities with an F1 car.<\/p>\n

Haas were largely uncompetitive<\/a> this year, especially over a race distance. This meant qualifying soon became the best opportunity for Hulkenberg to produce some magic.<\/p>\n

He achieved this on a relatively consistent basis, making several Q3 appearances in the VF-23. Whilst his individual performances in 2023 were impressive, points were almost always beyond reach.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the LeMans winner wants to explore any possible opportunities in the sport. This makes his discussions with Sauber earlier this year (widely reported by F1 news outlets) hardly surprising.<\/p>\n

Hulkenberg has even admitted to holding discussions with the Swiss outfit.<\/a> Some outlets suggest that a Guenther Steiner veto prevented the German from switching teams, although this is difficult to confirm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Movement expected in 2024<\/h3>\n

In any case, Hulkenberg’s contract expires at the end of 2024 – giving him more flexibility in the market. Audi, who will take over from Sauber in 2026, has been vocal about its interest in an experienced driver.<\/p>\n

Having a German driver is also a well-known preference for the manufacturer team. Therefore, it seems logical that a contract will at least be discussed at some stage next season.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, also on expiring deals, are already under scrutiny. Sauber hasn’t decided which of these drivers – if any – will be part of their long-term project for 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hulkenberg’s comments about the sluggish development at Haas show a clear desire to climb up the field. He’s already an interest in Audi’s entry into the sport.<\/a><\/p>\n

Although the pecking order could change again in 2024, another stagnant year for the American team could drive the 36-year-old into the arms of rivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite making F1 news headlines for his impressive qualifying results, Nico Hulkenberg wants a more competitive race car in 2024. Nico Hulkenberg was a subject of relative controversy when Haas announced his arrival for the 2023 season. However, it wasn’t long before the 36-year-old once again proved his abilities with an F1 car. Haas were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":16782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2186,68,23,256],"class_list":["post-17647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2023-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-nico-hulkenberg"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}