Hulkenberg: Ready to put VF-24 to the test in Hungary

The German driver, who is heading to Audi-Sauber for the 2025 Formula 1 season, has been on a roll finishing in sixth place both in the Austrian and and British GPs while outqualifying two Ferraris in the latter.

While the upcoming race in Hungary will be a different challenge due to the slower nature of the Hungaroring that requires Monaco levels of downforce, Hulkenberg is hoping to ride to the momentum towards another strong result.

Speaking in Haas' race preview, he said: "The Hungaroring is a fun challenge and I like the place. The focus is still on the Saturday though as overtaking is notoriously difficult.

"But after a couple of good points hauls, and what felt like a good improvement to the car with our new update, I'm ready to put it to the test.

"We're in a good spot at the moment and everyone in the team is highly motivated, so we need to capitalize on that for the final two races before summer," Hulkenberg concluded.

Kevin Magnussen, in the other Haas, has struggled so far compared to Hulkenberg, and was relegated on several occasions to the role of defending his teammate's track position, something he delivered on the limit of the rules - sometimes over the limit - bagging several penalties as a result.

But the Dane, whose future with Haas is uncertain, is hoping to have a strong weekend at the Hungaroring, he said: "Looking back at this season we've been competitive at most of the locations we've been to, so hopefully looking forward to another competitive weekend on this high-downforce circuit.

"The track is fun, it's a small circuit, kind of like a go-kart track and always has a good atmosphere - there's often quite a few Danish fans at this one. I think we're going into a double-header with two very different tracks, one very high-downforce – almost like our Monaco package – in Budapest, and one low-downforce track with Spa.

"So we're really going to be putting the VF-24 to the test," Magnussen concluded, echoing his teammate's sentiments.

While Haas failed to score points at high downforce Monaco, Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu, is hoping that the VF-24 with its latest upgrade and in high-downforce spec will fare better around the Hungaroring.

He commented: "Budapest is a high-downforce circuit with short straights. It's basically Monaco-esque with the downforce so we're bringing of course the Monaco level of downforce and combining that with the Silverstone update.

"I know in Monaco we were quick on the straights, but with the upgrades of course we've improved our aero downforce, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do in Hungary," he added. "It will be a very different challenge to Silverstone as qualifying is everything.

"It's very, very difficult to overtake around the Hungaroring, so you put more emphasis on qualifying. In Monaco, we couldn't come home with anything so I'd like to put that right, this is like a second Monaco for us.

"I'm looking forward to it, it's a very different challenge, but we're ready for it," Komatsu, who took over the top job at Haas from Guenther Steiner ahead of the 2024 F1 season, concluded.