How the battle between Haas F1 drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen could be predicted by reviewing the 2016 and 2017 season

When the Haas F1 team announced Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 F1 season, thousands of fans and F1 pundits speculated that he would have some fierce on-track and off-track battles with his teammate Kevin Magnussen. Though no on-track or off-track battles have occurred yet, it could still happen since both are in a great place in their careers.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Ben Anderson explained how both Hulkenberg and Magnussen gradually found their comfort zones in F1 in terms of their car preferences and team atmospheres.

Hulkenberg wanted a heavy and more dynamic car. Hence, the German flourished when the 2017 F1 season brought massive technical changes. Anderson said:

"The 2017 shift to bigger, faster, more dynamic, although still heavy, Formula 1 cars definitely suited Hulkenberg. He was desperate for that prior era to end. So he would have had that second coming, if you like."

Magnussen, on the other hand, wanted a team that really wanted him and had a good atmosphere. Hence, when he went to Haas, he started to perform and easily defeated Romain Grosjean back in 2017. Anderson explained:

"I think Magnussen's comparison against Palmer is slightly affected by the fact that the team was...The start of the Renault journey was chaotic. Magnussen did not enjoy that year at all. He had suspicions about the way the team was being run did not feel he was valued as a driver. He already been through a bad situation with McLaren. You saw the worst of Kevin Magnussen in the early part of his career in terms of how he was treated by teams and how he felt about those environments."

He concluded:

"And then when he went to Haas, where everything was much simplified, and he felt wanted, he flourished. Within a couple of years, he was comfortably outperforming [Romain] Grosjean. It kind of depends how these guys intersect at certain points."

Hence, by looking at the trajectories of each driver, it is safe to say that both are in a strong position at the moment and could start challenging each other. However, Hulkenberg is currently performing much better than his Danish teammate, both in qualifying and in the race. Only time will tell how these two drivers will fare against each other.

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Nico Hulkenberg on how he broke ice with Kevin Magnussen before joining Haas

It is no secret that Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen are not the best of friends off the track due to their past battles in F1.

However, Hulkenberg was not afraid to extend a friendly hand towards the Dane. He explained how he spoke to Magnussen when he stepped in as a reserve driver when Sebastian Vettel was unable to start the first race of the 2022 F1 season. He recalled:

“We actually broke the ice here 12 months ago when I stepped in for Seb. There was this driver picture on Sunday morning and we happened to be standing behind each other. I decided to break the ice, reached out with a hand and with a smile, put his words into his face, and that’s where our relationship actually started 12 months ago."

Even after joining Haas, both drivers have a good relationship, if not the best, and even have a policy of not fighting too hard on the track.