Why Hulkenberg's F1 podium drought was never going to define his career

There is an element of journalism that is rarely covered in lectures or on courses, one that is just as crucial to telling a story, to hooking a reader and delivering the detail as many other aspects of the craft that are much more obvious to the casual onlooker.

Timing.

You could have the best story in the world ready to go at the push of a button, but timing can dictate whether it’s too late, too soon, too fresh or old news. Today’s chip paper.

It was amazing to witness Nico Hulkenberg collect his first Formula 1 podium at the 239th time of asking, to see everyone in the Silverstone media centre stop what they were doing and applaud the 37-year-old for finally breaking his unwanted, record-breaking streak at the British Grand Prix.

This writer was one of them; but there was something in the corner of my mind that was nagging away. Just over 48 hours earlier I had met with Hulkenberg, the German giving over his time to be interviewed for this magazine, on these very pages [this interview was first published in Autosport magazine - ed].

Sitting in the Sauber motorhome – where two days later champagne corks would pop, beer would flow and music would blare – we discussed Sauber’s upturn in performance, Gabriel Bortoleto’s rookie season and, of course, unimaginative as it was from yours truly, his lack of an F1 podium.

So, as the media centre applause died down, I fired off a quick note to the magazine editorial team, ‘Might need to rework the Hulkenberg interview!’

Hulkenberg went from the back of the grid to the podium at Silverstone

Photo by: Getty Images

Who cares, though? Looking back on the day and what it meant to Hulkenberg, the team and even F1 as a whole, it was a memorable afternoon and one he will be hoping to repeat, especially once Audi is in charge.

He did not have the best start to the weekend. We were meant to have our chat on Thursday, but air traffic control strikes in France delayed Hulkenberg’s arrival and our meeting was shifted by 24 hours, just before the first practice session, which he sat out while Paul Aron – loaned from Alpine – stepped into his Sauber-Ferrari C45.

Then in qualifying, in warm and dry conditions, Hulkenberg could only put his car on the back row – another strong race performance would be needed if the run of form that has propelled Sauber from backmarker to genuine midfield competitor was going to continue.

“It has all been about good work, good decisions, it is down to the big process and programme that we’re in, becoming a bigger works team” Nico Hulkenberg

A double-points finish at the Austrian Grand Prix was the team’s first since 2023 and was a third successive top-10 for Hulkenberg, who acknowledges first and foremost that the progress has been a team effort.

“It has all been about good work, good decisions, it is down to the big process and programme that we’re in, becoming a bigger works team,” he reckons, with Audi preparing to take complete control from 2026. 

“I think the last few months, a lot of things had to settle and to sort of grip and certainly the Barcelona update [in late May] was a big step forward. It was exactly what we needed to be a serious competitor in the midfield fight. 

Sauber celebrates Hulkenberg’s Silverstone podium – an achievement also applauded across the F1 paddock

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

“At the beginning of this season, we kind of missed the boat a little bit. We didn’t really achieve what we wanted to over the winter with the car, which was obviously not ideal. Nobody in the team was happy with that. But now we feel like we have corrected it and are back on track and back where we wanted to start, basically.”

It took Sauber until the penultimate race of 2024 to score its only points of the year as Zhou Guanyu finished eighth in Qatar, but Hulkenberg – whose switch from Haas had been confirmed as early as last April – was not worried he had signed up for a squad struggling at the back of the pack.

“No, there was no concern,” he asserts. “And then, to be honest, at the end of last year, from Vegas onwards, where again they had an upgrade, which worked, there was definitely a sign of progress.

“Then I drove the car in Abu Dhabi after the season, and it didn’t feel bad at all. So there was never any concerns. I had faith and trust in it. I think it’s always about so many details. Everyone is all about details and, in F1, there are millions of them.

“The more you get an understanding of them, people working together, obviously for me it’s also an element of a new team arriving, bedding in, getting comfortable, talking the same language with the team, with the engineers. That kind of stuff takes time. 

“I feel the reels are running a bit smoother and more efficiently now. And obviously, behind the scenes, the team have been pushing for the past 12 months. We’re starting to harvest some of the good work that was put in over the last year.”

An epic lap put Williams driver Hulkenberg on pole for the 2010 Brazilian GP

Photo by: Getty Images

Hulkenberg returned to Sauber – he drove for the team for a single season in 2013 – after being tempted back to F1 by Haas. He spent two years with the American squad before the lure of the Audi project meant a relocation.

“I’m not super-emotional on that side, to be honest,” he claims about the prospect of representing a German manufacturer in F1. “At the end of the day, no one is going to award me anything because I’m a German in a German car. We’ll have to fight the same way. But of course, for me still, it’s a cool story.

“Especially for me actually, since the three years out I had, then the comeback with Haas, then I’ve managed to extend my career with a factory team, with Audi. It’s a pretty crazy and positive story. Audi is a serious brand. Wherever they went, whatever they did, they did it properly and seriously.”

“Audi wants to be a top contender in the future. Obviously, I think we need to manage expectations next year” Nico Hulkenberg

While Audi carries weight in a lot of other major racing series, its F1 credentials are – at the moment, at least – non-existent. But that will change with the Sauber rebrand and Audi power units ahead of the new-look 2026 season. And it has already made some major hires, including former key Red Bull figure Jonathan Wheatley arriving on board as team principal.

“Audi wants to be a top contender in the future,” explains Hulkenberg. “Obviously, I think we need to manage expectations next year. On one side, it’s a huge opportunity for everyone with this reset of regulations.

“But still, I think it’s not super-realistic to expect that we’ll come in and hit it on the head straight away. There’s still an element of growing and I think the top teams still have some advantages in terms of infrastructure. And their operations and how grown structures they have over decades and decades.

Hulkenberg’s trio of fourth-place finishes includes the 2013 Korean GP for Sauber

Photo by: Sutton Images

“We’re still in the process of growing and on the road to hopefully becoming a top team. But it’s exciting. It’s definitely taken very seriously. Everyone is working hard and focused, which is the only way in F1 really – there is no secret magic. I see a lot of things that are in motion.

“There is a lot happening. Some stuff is more short-term but also some other stuff is more medium and long-term. I see that a lot has been invested, a lot has been put in place. Like with everything in F1, it takes time. It’s what I signed up for and it’s encouraging, it’s positive and I’m very happy to be part of it.”

Hulkenberg may have spent time in the F1 wilderness, but was it his performances at Haas, coupled with his reputation from his first 2010-19 run in the championship, that explain why Audi decided it wanted someone of his calibre to lead the team in its opening years? When that question is put to him, his reply and sly smile speak for themselves: “Very well put, nothing to add!”

Hulkenberg, though, is much more forthcoming when discussing his rookie team-mate, Bortoleto, who joined F1 after collecting the F3 and F2 titles in successive seasons.

Bortoleto was just five years old when Hulkenberg made his F1 debut with Williams in 2010, but the Brazilian has stepped up into the series with plenty of promise, and took his first points as part of the strong Sauber showing in Austria, where Hulkenberg climbed from the back to ninth.

“I’ve been very impressed and he’s a really great guy, first of all, but also a hard worker,” approves Hulkenberg of his junior stablemate. “He’s really focused, very determined, has the right mindset, the right mentality.

Hulkenberg rates rookie team-mate Bortoleto highly, but doesn’t share the younger driver’s sim enthusiasm

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

“He’s fully his own man. I think we have a very open relationship as team-mates and in our approach. We talk about stuff regularly but it’s a two-way street, to be honest. We really push each other, bounce off each other, learn off each other. I don’t see myself as his mentor, but on paper, of course, I’m the more experienced one.

“He’s a guy who’s very switched on. He’s very awake. He listens very carefully in the debriefs. He looks at the data really in-depth. He’s a fast learner.

“I’ve seen it from the first race this year, how well he drives, how few mistakes he makes for a rookie, and his approach has always been very professional. I think he’s already very, very far in advance for a rookie, especially if I compare to myself back in the day. I have to say, hats off, chapeau. 

“It’s not my cup of tea. It’s a different generation. I’ve tried to excite myself for it, but the reality is it’s just not me. I stick to the real deal” Nico Hulkenberg

“He really loves racing. He’s a sim guy as well, which obviously with a lot of the young generation of drivers, they love that. It definitely gives them something, gives them a different angle, a different understanding, perception on racing and driving.”

Even if the younger drivers in the field are gaining the smallest advantage by e-racing in their spare time, it is not something Hulkenberg is considering in an attempt to hone his craft: “It’s not my cup of tea. It’s a different generation. I’ve tried to excite myself for it, but the reality is it’s just not me. It’s not how I like to spend my off time. I’d have to force it, and it wouldn’t be organic and natural and happy. I stick to the real deal.”

At this point in the interview, our conversation takes a turn in the direction that the majority of similar chats with Hulkenberg have had to go down in recent years, something of an elephant in the room when it comes to his achievements in F1.

Ex-Red Bull man Wheatley is a key hire as team principal in squad’s long-term plans

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

On his lack of a podium trophy, he said at the time: “It doesn’t trigger me at all. It’s been around for years, but it’s really cold coffee to me these days, to be honest. I think if you flip that whole debate on its head, why am I still here?

“There have been some really consistent performances throughout my career. You need the right car, the right timing. I’ve not had it maybe yet. Certainly not one of the top cars. But who knows? We’re pushing, we’re working on it. Hopefully, there can be that fairytale happy ending.”

It would be safe to say that at this particular point, neither of us was anticipating what was to follow – a strategic masterclass, coupled with some fine driving in the tricky, wet conditions that allowed Hulkenberg to climb from the back row to third place.

After collecting his LEGO trophy, the party started down the bottom end of the F1 paddock, where Sauber was celebrating its first appearance on the podium for 13 years.

“From a massive low in qualifying, being almost last and being last literally on the grid to this result is kind of surreal,” smiled Hulkenberg after the race. “It’s going to take a few days, a few moments to process everything and take it all in.”

He has had years to prepare for the moment and has no doubt savoured it for days since – but with the Audi switch on the horizon, everyone within the team will expect such events to become standard as it looks to bring about progress through technology.

This article is one of many in the new monthly issue of Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the Summer 2025 issue and subscribe today.

Double points finish in Austria is evidence of the progress made by Sauber

Photo by: Andrea Diodato - NurPhoto - Getty Images