Nico Hulkenberg is a teammate “with great speed”.

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Haas confirmed Thursday its driver duo for 2024: Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will remain teammates for the American racing team next year. Leading up to it there was a lot of talk about the difficult relationship between the two, but so far the collaboration has been harmonious.

Magnussen is delighted that he will continue to be Hulkenberg’s teammate next year and praises the German: “He’s doing a good job, and that’s the most important thing,” he says. “It’s nice to work with an experienced driver and it’s nice to fight against someone who’s super fast and who’s always at his best whether in qualifying or in the race.”

Especially in the qualifiers, Hulkenberg clearly outperforms his established rivals and leads the team duel with a ratio of 9:3 (To get an overview of all duels). In the race, the two were evenly matched at a ratio of 6:6, but the German scored the most points for the team.

This year, both must work together to bring Haas to at least seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship. The team currently sits eighth, but is at a disadvantage compared to Williams, who have the same number of points.

Does the upgrade solve the tire problems?

At Zandvoort, the team will get a new upgrade around the front wing and brake ducts which should help with that. However, Magnussen plays it down and says that downforce is not expected.

“Hopefully it’s an advantage and a big step forward, but as always when you upgrade you also have to do some work and we’ll see how it goes.”

higher midfield possible?

Haas hopes to have the problem under control by 2024. Then you look again up the midfield. But does Haas have what it takes to make it happen? “I think so,” says Magnussen. “It’s very close and I think every team feels they can do that.”

Aston Martin and McLaren have shown this year that great progress is possible, “but we haven’t made it,” he says. “We kind of got stuck in our development of the car.”