Nico Hulkenberg

He joined Sauber for 2013 amid rumours that this was an audition for engine-supplier Ferrari. The team initially struggled to develop its C32 but Hülkenberg starred after the summer break. He qualified third at Monza (ahead of both works Ferraris) before finishing in a fine fifth position. Even better, he was fourth in Korea despite pressure from both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Now consistently qualifying in Q3, he declined the opportunity to replace the unpaid Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus for the last couple of races. He finished his single season with Sauber 10th in the drivers’ championship.

Overlooked by McLaren and Ferrari once more, he returned to Force India in 2014 with Mercedes-Benz engines offering the hope of a more competitive campaign. Six top six finishes in the first seven races showed great consistency and he qualified fourth at Silverstone. However, Force India lacked the budget to develop its VJM07 and Hülkenberg eventually faded to ninth overall.

Victory at Le Mans

Hülkenberg stayed with Force India in 2015 but it was away from F1 that he stood out from the crowd. He signed to drive for Porsche’s LMP1 sports car team in that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. Sixth at Spa-Francorchamps in preparation, Hülkenberg shared the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid with Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy to become the first current F1 driver since 1991 to win the race. He finished 10th in that year’s F1 World Championship with fifth on the grid in Brazil and a trio of sixth place finishes the highlights.

Hülkenberg helped Force India to finish fourth in the 2016 World Championship in what was his third and final season with the team. He continued to generally out-qualify team-mate Sergio Pérez and started an impressive fifth in Monaco and third in Austria. However, a first podium finish eluded Hülkenberg once more – fourth in Belgium matching his best F1 result so far as he climbed to ninth in the points.

Works Renault driver

Keen for the opportunity with a works team, Hülkenberg joined the recently re-branded Renault team in 2017. He was only out-qualified once by a team-mate (when he had a 20-place grid penalty) and impressed when Renault’s questionable reliability allowed him to. Fifth on the grid and sixth at the finish of the British GP, he lost a probable fourth-place finish to another technical issue in Singapore.

He remained with the team for 2018 and generally outshone his highly-rated team-mate Carlos Sainz. In a season where Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Red Bull dominated the podium finishers, Hülkenberg scored points on 11 occasions and emerged as the best of the rest – seventh in the final championship standings. He was involved in the first corner pile-up at Spa-Francorchamps, lost fifth-place when he crashed in Azerbaijan and rolled following contact with Romain Grosjean at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Renault signed Daniel Ricciardo as Hülkenberg’s team-mate for the 2019 F1 World Championship. There was little to choose between their outright pace but the Australian prevailed in qualifying (12-8) and on raceday. Hülkenberg finished fifth in Italy, the best of ten points scores but slumped to 14th in the championship. And there was the bitter disappointment of Hockenheim where he ran second before crashing at the treacherous final turn to lose the chance of a first podium finish.

When high-rated Mercedes reserve Esteban Ocon became available for 2020, it was Hülkenberg who was released. Without an immediate opportunity elsewhere, he left F1 with the unenviable record for the most GP starts without a podium finish – 177.

2020 stand-in appearances

When Sergio Perez tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the British Grand Prix, speculation was rife over who would be in line to replace him, but it was Hülkenberg who was chosen.

The German was on the way to the Nürburgring for a TV appearance when he got the call before rushing on a plane to Silverstone in time for Saturday qualifying. Incredibly, despite limited time in the car beforehand, Hülkenberg managed to qualify 13th. With Racing Point looking competitive, a chance of a maiden podium beckoned but it wasn’t to be as his car developed an issue and he didn’t take the start. Perez was not declared fit in time for the 70th Anniversary GP one week later, so Hülkenberg did get another chance, ending up a respectable 7th in the race.

His stand-in efforts weren’t finished yet either after Lance Stroll fell ill over the Eifel GP weekend. Hülkenberg started from 20th but put in a great drive to finish 8th and pick up vital points for the team.

F1 return

Further stand-in drives in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the 2022 season meant Hülkenberg was back in contention for a full-time seat for 2023. Sebastian Vettel’s retirement began a cascade of driver moves, but it was Haas that finally gave the German driver a chance at an F1 return.

As the 2022 season drew to a close, Haas decided to part ways with Mick Schumacher, leaving Hülkenberg to sign a one year deal to partner Kevin Magnussen for 2023. The German showed brilliant form throughout his first year back in a full-time seat, as he qualified tenth on debut for the team in Bahrain and later scored points finishes in Australia and Austria.

Hülkenberg continued to lead the way for Haas in 2024, out-scoring team-mate Magnussen by 17 points through the first 12 races of the season.

Showing no signs of slowing down, Hülkenberg’s experience and obvious talent soon attracted the eyes of Sauber, who offered the German a multi-year deal starting in 2025. The Hinwill is expected to be taken over by Audi in 2026, and the German car giant likely identified Hülkenberg as the perfect figure to head its first fore into Formula 1.

This his future secure, Hülkenberg continued to impress for the rest of 2024: scoring further points finishes in Singapore, the US, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. He ultimately finished eleventh in the drivers’ championship and helped Haas secure seventh in the constructors’.