The Austrian Grand Prix has produced plenty of action already but Max Verstappen wasn’t the only standout star during Saturday’s qualifying session.
The Dutchman was simply incredible throughout the session, opening up an impressive gap over Lando Norris and his other rivals to take another pole position.
Considering a lap of the Red Bull Ring is only 64 seconds long, the fact that Verstappen set a time that was nearly a second faster than teammate Sergio Perez shows what level he’s on compared to everyone else on the grid.
Commentating on the session for Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle admitted that another driver caught his eye.
The first four rows of the grid will be filled by the usual suspects, even if Oscar Piastri was left very frustrated by his marginal track limits violation that cost him four places after his quickest lap time was deleted.
That left two spots in Q3 to fill with the battle to be the fifth-fastest team on the grid hotting up.
Aston Martin looked well off the pace once again and Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were the two drivers that took advantage.
Brundle commented that Hulkenberg – racing in his 218 Grand Prix – is turning into a brilliant qualifier and he did a fantastic job setting a time half a second faster than Ocon in his Haas in Q3.
After picking up a penalty in the Sprint Race, he’s given himself a great chance of adding to his points tally after coming agonisingly close in recent races.
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Martin Brundle very impressed with Nico Hulkenberg’s qualifying performance
At the end of Q2 when the German had put his car into the top ten, Brundle said: “He’s turning into a great qualifier, isn’t he?
“Off to obviously Sauber which will then become Audi in short order Nico Hulkenberg and he keeps delivering great lap times.
“He needs to do it in the race as well and he’ll score some more points.”
Hulkenberg has recorded five 11-place finishes in the last seven races, only disrupted by a 10 place in China and getting caught up in the first-lap crash at the Monaco Grand Prix involving teammate Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez.
He’s reached another level this year and it’s no wonder that despite Haas’s attempts to offer him a new contract, he’s been chosen as one of the two drivers to race for Audi when they enter Formula 1 in 2026.
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Nico Hulkenberg going from strength to strength in the 2024 F1 season
At the beginning of the 2024 season, team principal Ayao Komatsu tried to lower expectations after a tough previous campaign that saw them finish bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
Hulkenberg immediately dismissed those concerns at the season opener in Bahrain, putting his car into the top ten and earning praise from former boss Guenther Steiner.
Although he didn’t score points that weekend, Hulkenberg appears to be improving constantly despite being 36 years old.
He’s been the dominant driver in the Haas pairing against Kevin Magnussen and he’s very unlucky to only have six points to his name this season.
If Hulkenberg continues to impress Brundle and the rest of the paddock with his qualifying performances then Sauber will be getting more and more excited about his arrival despite their awful performances.
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