At the end of last month, Hulkenberg signed a new contract with Sauber. He’ll join the Swiss team next year after Audi takes over. This makes him Audi’s first official driver for 2026.
Hulkenberg won’t be with Haas after this season. So, the team needs to find someone new. This new driver probably won’t have as much experience as Hulkenberg.
Hulkenberg has been in F1 for 10 years. He started with Williams in 2010. His good finishes in races like Saudi Arabia, Australia, and China helped Haas get to seventh place in the standings.
Hulkenberg talked about leaving Haas. He praised Komatsu, who’s now the team boss. He said Komatsu tried hard to keep him for next year.
“He’s doing well. He became the team boss at the start of the year, which was unexpected,” Hulkenberg said. “In February, he had to deal with driver contracts for the first time. That’s a big deal. I told him a few weeks ago that I might leave. He fought hard to keep me. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. Haas gave me a chance to come back to F1. But Audi offers better opportunities for me.”
Even though Hulkenberg will race for a different team next year, he’ll still get updates from Haas this season. He and his teammate Magnussen will get the updates at the same time.
Asked if Magnussen might get priority for new parts now, Hulkenberg said, “I don’t think so. The team and I both want to do well this season. We want to beat the other teams in the middle of the standings.”
But Hulkenberg knows that Haas won’t keep him updated on their plans for next year once they start working on the new car.
“Yeah, probably in a few months,” he said. “Next year’s cars won’t be too different, so it’s okay if I don’t know everything right away. I’m okay with that.”
