Nico Hülkenberg has started 193 times – as of August 17, 2023 – in a Formula 1 race. Not once did he climb the podium. A bitter record, with which Hülkenberg is relaxed – and in which the soon to be 37-year-old even sees something positive.
There are truly drivers less talented than Hulkenberg who have made it onto an F1 podium, mostly through fortunate racing circumstances. Lance Stroll may briefly come to mind, who was allowed to squirt champagne three times. Hülkenberg has never been granted this. He probably came closest to the magic steps in 2012, when he even fought for victory with Lewis Hamilton in the wet Interlagos before the two collided and retired.
“Of course, if you think about it, it’s a bit frustrating,” quotes “motorsportweek.com” Hülkenberg. “Because every racing driver then and now ideally wants to win. But at the same time I never had the car. I had good cars and also opportunities to deliver a podium, but for various reasons it never worked out. It never clicked.”
Formula 1: Hülkenberg has been there for ages
But he was not bitter because of his zero, the German assured. Rather, Hülkenberg interprets his yield as proof of longevity in Formula 1. “I don’t think I would have managed to get to 200 Grands Prix in Formula 1 if I were that bad,” he said: “So it has to be somewhere what good is in it.”
Hülkenberg made his Formula 1 debut in 2010 at Williams, racing straight to pole position in his rookie year in Brazil. From 2012 to 2019 he drove permanently in the premier class, including for Renault.
After that, during the corona pandemic, he kept coming back for spontaneous assignments as a substitute driver, in which he was convincing. Haas brought the veteran back to F1 for 2023, Hülkenberg took over the cockpit from Mick Schumacher.