Nico Hulkenberg has had to withdraw from his media day duties ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Haas team say their driver is nursing a cold ahead of the race.
They have called it a preventative measure, indicating that they still expect him to race. Oliver Bearman will be on hand if needed.
Bearman is in Qatar for the penultimate round of the Formula 2 championship but has already stood in three times this year, twice because of illness. Most notably, he received an emergency Ferrari call-up in Saudi Arabia when Carlos Sainz contracted appendicitis.
In Brazil, Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen was unwell and suggested that Ayao Komatsu turn to the youngster. Magnussen regretted putting Bearman forward because he sensed a missed opportunity to score big points in torrential rain.
In between those two outings, the Briton filled in at the Azerbaijan GP as Magnussen served a ban for accumulating too many penalty points in the space of a year. This was ideal preparation ahead of his full-time debut for the team in 2025.
The Haas pair aren’t the only drivers to get sick recently. Fernando Alonso missed media day in both Mexico and Brazil as a result of a stomach bug.
Max Verstappen predicted F1 drivers would get ‘sick’ before Nico Hulkenberg Qatar Grand Prix illness
While Hulkenberg’s illness doesn’t sound like anything serious, it justifies Max Verstappen’s concerns. The world champion was critical of the decision to run Las Vegas and Qatar as back-to-back races.
It takes around 18 hours to travel from Nevada to Lusail. Verstappen was worried drivers would get ‘sick’ due to the resulting fatigue.
“The flight from Vegas to Qatar is a long one,” he said. “Then you fly from Qatar to Abu Dhabi and that is fine. That is not the problem. But at the end of the season, when you start to get a bit tired, you also get sick a bit more easily. The many long flights do not help with that.”
After the Qatar GP, the drivers will make the relatively short trip to Abu Dhabi for the season finale. Logically, a break after Vegas before a Middle Eastern double header would make more sense.
F1 has just moved the Canadian GP to a May slot from 2026, coupling it with the Miami GP. Perhaps this is the next logistics-driven tweak the sport will have to make.
Max Verstappen deserves an apology after being told to ‘stop whining’
The F1 calendar is becoming ‘too much’ for Verstappen, according to his father Jos. This year’s schedule runs to a record 24 races.
It’s likely to stay that way. Liberty Media know they will face significant pushback from the drivers and teams if they try to add another event, but they won’t want to trim the calendar at this point because that would mean losing revenue.
F1 is set to rotate some European events to protect the sport’s heritage while also making room for some newer, more lucrative venues. This could begin from 2026.
Giedo van der Garde told Verstappen to stop ‘whining’ before Vegas, insisting he wouldn’t mind the lengthy trip as the newly-crowned champion. But after his fears came to fruition, perhaps he’s owed an apology.
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