Sauber's "pinch yourself moment" after Hulkenberg beats Hamilton's Ferrari

Sauber Formula 1 boss Jonathan Wheatley says Nico Hulkenberg's unexpected fifth place in the Spanish Grand Prix is a huge relief for the team as its upgrades finally paid off.

Hulkenberg scored points for Sauber in a mixed weather season opener in Australia, but since then he and his team have unable to add to their tally as they found themselves on the wrong side of an extremely tight midfield battle.

The Swiss team, which is preparing to morph into Audi's works programme in 2026, brought a major upgrade to Barcelona, which included a redesigned floor, a changed engine cover and modified front wing endplates.

Both Hulkenberg and rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto showed promise in qualifying but, while Bortoleto qualified in 12th, Hulkenberg was only 16th after losing out in the final sector.

Sauber's step forward proved genuine in the race, with Hulkenberg's flying start helping him move up to ninth by the time Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired with a Mercedes engine issue.

Hulkenberg then picked off Isack Hadjar and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton after a late safety car restart to snatch a sensational sixth place, which became fifth after Max Verstappen's penalty.

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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Clive Rose / Getty Images

While Sauber had plenty of reasons to celebrate its best result since Valtteri Bottas' fifth place at Imola in 2022, team boss Wheatley was even more satisfied by the underlying performance step the squad had taken.

"There's so much hard work going on, so much passion at the factory and I think it just feels like this huge relief, because we know what we've been capable of," Wheatley replied when asked by Autosport about what the Spanish GP weekend meant for the Hinwil team after a tough 18 months.

"I was just pleased that the upgrade did what we expected it to do, the feedback from the drivers was consistent and we had a racing car under us today. It's the first time that I've felt that since I've been here and it's a great feeling."

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Wheatley is hopeful the Barcelona upgrade will allow Sauber to be an active part of the fight for points in the midfield at most races, rather than a spectator, which ultimately is decided by tiny fractions of time per lap.

"The fight we're in, a tenth of a second makes a massive difference," Wheatley said. "How many times have we missed out on Q2 by a hundredth of a second? Any performance you put on the car is going to make a difference.

"If we look at Barcelona, for as long as I've been coming here, since 1991, it's been a true test of a car's performance, and generally a car that performs here well, performs well at a lot more circuits. The tools are working now, the correlation's good."

While the former Red Bull sporting director was impressed with how Bortoleto is coming along, and was adamant the Brazilian's time would come, Hulkenberg drew the biggest plaudits as he overtook Hamilton on the penultimate lap. "It was a bit of a pinch yourself moment because that was on pace," Wheatley grinned.