Hulkenberg will return to F1 after three seasons away, having left Renault at the end of the 2019 season to replace Mick Schumacher at the American team.
But while the 35-year-old German has always maintained he is not desperate to return, he has kept his foot in the door and has deputized five times over the past three seasons for drivers affected by COVID- 19.
In 2020, Hulkenberg made three appearances with Racing Point to replace Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez.
Although he failed to start the British Grand Prix, he impressed by finishing in the top eight of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
This year he has played the first two rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in place of Sebastian Vettel in the same team, which now races as Aston Martin.
Haas team principal Steiner said those cameos convinced him that Hulkenberg wouldn’t be too rusty when he joined the team.
“We also looked at that one, but when he came on, when he’s been replacing drivers for the past few years, he was pretty on the ball straight away,” Steiner replied when asked by Autosport if he was. had concerns about a lack of stroke sharpness.
Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin AMR22
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
In Abu Dhabi, Hulkenberg took part in post-season testing for Haas on Tuesday, helping him get to grips with the team and the physical demands of racing in F1.
“We also have pre-season tests in Bahrain. I think he will be direct,” added Steiner.
“Physically, these F1 cars are quite demanding, and it will take some getting used to because the only way to train his muscles is to drive the cars.
“We’ll be crossing that bridge next year, but it’s in pretty good shape.
“I think we obviously had that question too: ‘Is he right on the ball when he comes back after being knocked out?’
“But then you look at the results he got when he jumped off at the last minute, he was pretty good.”
