Nico Hülkenberg dismisses underachiever tag with maiden F1 podium

During the 2010 Formula One season, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, baby-faced German entered the paddock, seemingly with the world at his feet.

Having produced a prodigious junior career that could rival any top talent, Nico Hülkenberg was described by his manager Willi Weber as “an unbelievable talent” who reminded him of his other long-term client — a certain seven-time world champion named Michael Schumacher.

The “Hulk” made his debut in the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, which featured a spin while he was running in a promising position. His second race lasted just five corners after a fellow driver rammed into his helpless car.

And thus, the tone was set for a career of mishaps and misfortune. That is not to say there haven’t been special moments, however. There was a shock pole position in mixed conditions at Interlagos during his rookie season, and two years later he found himself fighting for victory at the same track. As has often been the case, though, a combination of poor luck and judgement would put an end to his dreams.

A first golden chance of a podium had slipped through his fingers, but surely there would be plenty more opportunities to come?

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Hülkenberg’s single season at Sauber in 2013 was one of his best, as he dragged a barely competitive car into the points and even kept Lewis Hamilton behind him on his way to an impressive P4 finish in South Korea. Then followed three years at Force India, with Sergio Pérez as his teammate. Although he was only narrowly outscored by the Mexican during this period, Pérez notched up four podiums compared to Hülkenberg’s zero.

Whenever the chance of an unlikely result presented itself, Hülkenberg somehow managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In 2016, the podium escaped him on four separate occasions: in Monaco, as he got caught in traffic after his pit stop ruined a P3 finish; in Baku, where he spun during qualifying when the Force India were truly competitive (Pérez earned a deserved podium); in Austria, where he qualified second but had a poor start; and in Brazil, where he suffered a puncture while running in what would have become a net third.

This trend continued in subsequent years. Hülkenberg would crash out of chaotic races whenever in with a great shout of a top-three finish, such as Azerbaijan 2017 and Germany 2019. If he did manage to stay on the road, as in Singapore 2017, Lady Luck would still find a way — whether through strategy or bad timing — to keep him off the podium.

As the saying goes, you make your own luck. In that sense, Hülkenberg has been far from a master craftsman. While he has certainly experienced more than his fair share of misfortune, he has also hampered his chances in situations where he could finally have broken his podium duck.

There’s no doubt about his speed. Hülkenberg was the unofficial champion of “Formula 1.5” on two separate occasions, earned numerous fourth- and fifth-place finishes, and his win at Le Mans in 2015 shows his winning mentality. But, for whatever reason, things never quite came together for him in F1.

Until now.

On his 239th start, Hülkenberg finally stood on the podium for the first time, shedding the record for most starts without a podium finish — a record he handed to Adrian Sutil.

Viewed by many as a badge of dishonour, the record was often used as a stick to beat him with — held up as proof that there was something wrong with him, a fragility that made him choke when opportunities presented themselves. He has his limitations and has made mistakes, and it’s those rough edges that meant he never quite made himself the first choice for a top team.

But the quality has always shone through — on days like Saturday at Interlagos in 2010, when he put the midfield Williams on pole position in his rookie season; or when he led the field by almost a minute at the same track two years later; or when he earned a hard-fought P4 in South Korea in 2013 — and many more.

It definitely isn’t the career he looked destined for when he arrived in F1 fifteen years ago, touted by many as a future world champion, but it has been a remarkable one nonetheless.

It’s this quality that has kept him on the grid for so long. Even when he dropped off the grid, the job he did during stand-in appearances for Racing Point/Aston Martin during three years on the sidelines from 2020 to 2022 kept him in the game, before he was brought back by Haas, who needed an experienced, dependable campaigner with a proven track record. Hülkenberg paid back that trust with two excellent seasons for the American outfit before turning it into a new deal to spearhead Audi’s F1 return when Sauber transition into becoming a works team next year.

Hülkenberg has taken to this generation of cars better than he did those of previous eras, particularly when tyre management dominated everything else. This is a skill set he has developed over the years, turning himself into a mature, dependable racer.

He may no longer be a potential world champion, but he is a wise, battle-hardened competitor who can still spring a surprise or two. There may be more chances with Audi in the future — and he’ll certainly hope so.

But if this first podium turns out to be his only one, which is also likely, then Hülkenberg will be happy to have put behind the ghost that haunted him for most of his career when he hangs up his racing boots.