The 2025 Formula 1 season has only just started but already conclusions are being drawn as to which teams nailed their development over the winter and which teams need to go back to the drawing board.
McLaren and Mercedes are top of the constructors’ championship after the Australian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris the first winner of 2025.
Red Bull have question marks over the true performance of their car with Max Verstappen once again outperforming expectations and Liam Lawson having a difficult first race with the team.
However, the majority of the interest was surrounding Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari debut and the plethora of rookies up and down the grid.
Hamilton didn’t have the start to life at Ferrari he would have liked and out of the rookies, it was his replacement at Mercedes Andrea Kimi Antonelli who impressed the most with a brilliant recovery drive to P4 having started 12 places further back.
Karun Chandhok and Naomi Schiff were discussing the first race of the season on Sky Sports F1 (16/3 7:18 am) and wanted to highlight a driver who typically goes under the radar for his brilliant performance.
Nico Hulkenberg scored six points for Sauber on his second debut for the team.
He’s already beaten their tally throughout the entirety of 2024 and Chandhok believes Haas are already missing the German driver.
Karun Chandhok claims Haas are already ‘missing’ Nico Hulkenberg after the Australian Grand Prix
Chandhok was asked whether Hulkenberg was a good signing for Sauber and replied: “Yep, he’s top drawer.
“We saw at Haas how much he contributed to them having a good season last year, dragged them up in the championship.
“They’re missing him! You speak to Ayao Komatsu and he was really gutted when he lost Hulkenberg to Sauber.
“So yeah, he’s a great asset for them.”
READ MORE: Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
It was then put to Schiff that Hulkenberg deserves to have more accolades from his career to which she said: “Totally! One of the most, I don’t want to say underestimated because I think a lot of people already know he’s got what it takes.
“But I guess he’s just already been in the wrong place at the wrong time, never really having a car that can deliver him the results that maybe he deserves.
“He’s always our surprise finisher in the points, I have to say. When there’s an opportunity for him to be there, he’s there.
“And I have to say Sauber must be really happy because [Gabriel] Bortoleto had a great weekend up until obviously what happened in the race today, but he seems to really have the pace as well.
“He’s been matching Hulkenberg a lot during practice so all things are looking pretty decent in that respect so far.”
Sauber and Haas may have traded places in the F1 pecking order
Hulkenberg has long been associated with being the driver with the most Grand Prix starts without a podium finish.
That’s unlikely to change in 2025 although the upcoming takeover of Audi could suddenly propel him and teammate Gabriel Bortoleto much closer to the front of the grid.
Sauber looked in serious trouble going into the race in Australia but brought a very different car to Melbourne compared to testing.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Sauber from team principal to 2026 Audi future
On the other hand, Haas’ reluctance to do any qualifying runs in testing may have been to hide the fact that they seem to have taken a big step backwards over the winter.
Oliver Bearman’s two crashes in practice didn’t help matters but Esteban Ocon struggled throughout the weekend.
They were the final two classified runners in Australia and will need to quickly find a solution or immediately shift focus to 2026.
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