Nico Hulkenberg seeking ‘compromise’ with Sauber car after feeling ‘noticeable difference’ since Haas exit

Nico Hulkenberg has faced an up-and-down start to the season after joining Sauber from Haas and continues to chase one ‘compromise’ to adapt to his new team’s car.

The 37-year-old began the latest chapter of his Formula 1 career on strong foundations with seventh place in the Australian Grand Prix. His haul of six points even eclipsed the total tally that Sauber scored throughout the 2024 season, with Zhou Guanyu taking four in 24 rounds.

But Hulkenberg did not back up his P7 from Melbourne when the 2025 F1 season moved on to the Chinese Grand Prix. A moment through Turn 3 saw the German sustain damage to his floor and laboured home to a P15 finish after also only achieving P19 in the Shanghai Sprint.

Suzuka has not seen Hulkenberg climb up the rankings so far this week, too, with the Sauber star only P17 in FP1 and P12 in FP2 at the Japanese Grand Prix. He toured the Honda-owned track 1.474 seconds and 0.948s off the chart-topping laps of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Nico Hulkenberg needs a ‘compromise’ for Sauber’s power steering after two years at Haas

Sauber performance director Stefano Sordo believes Hulkenberg is yet to fully maximise the potential of his C45 as the 233-race pilot is still trying to adapt to their car after two seasons with Haas. Hulkenberg is especially keen to better utilise the power steering on Sauber’s car.

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Sordo feels Hulkenberg has found the power steering settings on Sauber’s car very different to how Haas set their car up. So, while Hulkenberg’s qualifying speed has impressed Gabriel Bortoleto since they became teammates with Sauber this year, he still has room to improve.

“This is something Nico, in particular, is very sensitive to and he’s still trying to find the best compromise,” Sordo said, via quotes by Motorsport-Total.

“The level of assistance from the power steering is very much a matter of driver preference and Nico noticed a noticeable difference there. This difference comes into play when the driver needs to get the most out of the package.”

Sauber need Nico Hulkenberg to get on top of his car problems to boost their constructors’ standing

Sauber will hope Hulkenberg can find the ‘compromise’ he craves with their power steering soon to add to their early points tally. The Swiss squad are sat eighth in the F1 constructors’ standings before the Japanese GP but just three points above Racing Bulls and six to Alpine.

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Williams, Haas and Aston Martin are also not too far ahead of Sauber in fourth place with 17 points, sixth with 14 and seventh with 10. But Sauber doubt they can repeat Hulkenberg’s P7 in the Australian GP just on merit now, so they cannot afford to leave any points on the table.

The Hinwil crew will no doubt hope the German’s experience can help them to improve the C45. Also, Hulkenberg’s feedback has stunned Sauber since joining from Haas as his input is levels ahead of what the team had enjoyed in recent seasons with Zhou and Valtteri Bottas.