11 months ago
19
Nate SaundersJul 7, 2025, 12:41 PM ET
SILVERSTONE, England -- "Cometh the hour, cometh the man."
Nico Hülkenberg waited years for his moment. On Sunday, helium yet got it: the German scoring his archetypal Formula 1 podium and ending 1 of the sport's astir infamous and unfair records.
Sauber brag Jonathan Wheatley had stepped retired of the team's store enactment to fulfill media duties erstwhile helium said those words. Behind him, champagne-soaked squad members broke into chants of "Nico's connected fire" done the store walls.
Sauber hadn't gone to Silverstone expecting a enactment -- the thought of a podium would person seemed ludicrous to anyone with adjacent a passing cognition of F1. The Swiss squad had not finished successful the apical 3 since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. In the midst of transitioning to Audi up of a afloat rebrand successful 2026, Sauber finished dormant past successful the constructors' title past twelvemonth without scoring a azygous point. The squad had truthful small champagne successful their fridges that Mercedes and Aston Martin brought implicit other bottles conscionable truthful they could observe properly.
While Sauber had forgotten what it felt like, Hülkenberg could person been forgiven for reasoning helium mightiness ne'er get to consciousness it astatine all.
His maiden F1 podium came astatine the 239th attempt, 15 years aft his debut astatine the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. The antheral who for truthful agelong had been known arsenic "the antheral with the astir contention starts without a podium to his name" had flipped his bequest successful 1 stunning day erstwhile squad and operator had combined perfectly to snatch the astir improbable of results. Genuine surprises are a rarity successful Formula 1, but this was arsenic bully of an illustration arsenic you could ever find.
"It's been a agelong clip coming, hasn't it," a stunned Hülkenberg said instantly aft the race. "But I ever knew we person it successful us, I person it successful me, somewhere."
Not everyone would person agreed.
The German driver's nonaccomplishment to people adjacent 1 podium -- with respective large opportunities squandered implicit the years, specified arsenic Brazil 2012 oregon Germany 2019 -- had been a instrumentality critics had utilized to bushed him with for years. Most successful the paddock recovered it hard to fathom however a operator arsenic bully arsenic Hülkenberg could person been that punching bag.
Ex-Red Bull sporting manager Wheatley lone became Hülkenberg's brag connected April 1 but, similar galore successful the paddock, has been convinced of his driver's endowment acold longer than that.
"It seems unthinkable to maine that we're each celebrating a podium, arsenic it feels to maine similar helium should person been getting them each his career," Wheatley said. "It seems to beryllium the longest-waited podium ever. He showed his people today, didn't enactment a instrumentality wrong. I've considered him to beryllium an bonzer endowment for a precise agelong time, and I deliberation I've been accordant successful saying that to everyone here. It seemed unthinkable to maine that he's ne'er achieved a podium successful his career. I deliberation helium showed contiguous what he's susceptible of."
Hülkenberg's erstwhile futility successful that section had been hard to fathom.
Every athletics has its statistical outliers, the athletes who did not rather execute thing they could oregon should person done. In Formula 1, a rod presumption is possibly the archetypal accomplishment of immoderate worth -- Hülkenberg had 1 of those successful his rookie season, astatine the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, a show that appeared to vindicate the monolithic hype that accompanied his aboriginal racing vocation -- but successful presumption of contention results, the podium is the bare minimum for a racing operator of immoderate existent significance. Grand prix victories travel for large drivers. A satellite title for the fewer elite talents. Plenty of bully drivers discontinue without either of the latter.
Even Formula 1's astir celebrated "nearly men" had boasted otherwise-impressive résumés. In fact, immoderate are amended remembered due to the fact that of their adjacent misses. Stirling Moss, often described arsenic the top operator ne'er to triumph a satellite title, claimed 16 contention victories. Rubens Barrichello took 68 podiums but ne'er the championship. Nick Heidfeld managed 13 podiums without ever lasting connected the apical step. They each deed astatine slightest 1 of the milestones that matter.
Hülkenberg, somehow, hadn't. Until Sunday. It was a baffling anomaly. Here was a operator bully capable to person started much than 200 races implicit 15 seasons, bully capable to triumph the 24 Hours of Le Mans (one of motorsport's eventual prizes) successful his archetypal and lone effort successful 2015.
He had been thing of a phenom successful inferior categories. In karting, Hülkenberg regularly bushed different young German of the aforesaid age: Sebastian Vettel, who would spell connected to triumph 4 satellite championships.
On his accomplishment to Formula 1 with Williams, Hülkenberg had been considered 1 of the coming men of centrifugal racing; helium had dominated Formula BMW successful 2005, won the short-lived A1GP championship, and past taken a broad rubric successful GP2 -- present Formula 2 -- successful 2009. He referenced his aboriginal occurrence connected Sunday evening successful the quality league for the apical 3 finishers.
Asked however it had felt to beryllium connected the podium again aft truthful long, helium said: "Felt good. I inactive remembered however to bash it! Used to bash it a batch successful the inferior worldly and past had to hold for it rather a bit."
No 1 successful the paddock ever doubted Hülkenberg's talent. His agelong hold for a podium wasn't conscionable cruel, it baffled those who raced alongside him. Reigning champion Max Verstappen was seen pumping his fists successful solemnisation astatine Hülkenberg arsenic helium passed the Sauber astatine the decision of the race. The Red Bull driver, a bully person of Hülkenberg's, was speedy to constituent retired however overdue it was.
Those who had shared a car with him knew what helium was susceptible of.
"For me, he's ever been a top-five operator each clip he's been successful F1," said erstwhile Renault teammate Carlos Sainz. "His contention execution is incredible. I'm gladsome helium has this podium to unopen everyone up. I ne'er doubted him."
Two-time satellite champion Fernando Alonso, nary alien to the value of competitory machinery successful defining the occurrence of a Formula 1 career, said: "He's 1 of the champion drivers connected the grid that ne'er had the accidental to person a due car underneath him."
Perhaps the lone idiosyncratic who wouldn't person been wholly thrilled with Hülkenberg's large infinitesimal connected Sunday was Adrian Sutil, who present inherits the grounds for the astir F1 contention starts without a podium. The fig adjacent to Sutil's name: 128. Hülkenberg's had stood astatine 292. A spread truthful immense it underlines conscionable however absurd it was that helium had to hold truthful long.
The machinery constituent Alonso alluded to was the worst portion of the Hülkenberg communicative -- the chips ne'er seemed to autumn successful the close place. After Williams, helium raced for minnows Force India and mightiness person won them the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix -- oregon astatine the precise slightest scored a podium -- had helium not collided with Lewis Hamilton successful the last portion of the race. His standout performances for an uncompetitive Sauber successful 2013 turned heads successful the paddock. He was earnestly considered arsenic Felipe Massa's replacement astatine Ferrari, lone to beryllium passed implicit successful favour of returning satellite champion Kimi Räikkönen -- a sliding doors infinitesimal if ever determination was one.
Force India brag Vijay Mallya brought Hülkenberg backmost successful 2014 alongside Sergio Pérez, but that concern lone deepened the frustration. Across their clip together, Force India scored 4 podiums -- each azygous 1 belonged to Pérez. The astir achy was Monaco 2016; a poorly timed pit halt near Hülkenberg trapped successful postulation portion Pérez jumped up and finished third.
A determination to Renault, an outfit with satellite rubric ambitions, followed, but the squad ne'er came adjacent to achieving those goals. Here came different achy moment. If Brazil 2012 was the 1 that got away, Germany 2019 wasn't acold behind. In the rainfall astatine Hockenheim, Hülkenberg had been moving astatine the beforehand erstwhile helium aquaplaned disconnected the circuit and retired of the race. "It hurts and it's going to wounded adjacent much tomorrow," helium said aft that race. Worst of each was that, by then, helium already held the grounds for the astir starts without a podium. That infinitesimal appeared to sum wherefore successful a nutshell.
That infinitesimal was besides the backdrop for 1 of my ain astir uncomfortable moments arsenic a journalist. Four days later, astatine the media time for the adjacent contention successful Budapest, I asked him straight whether that unwanted grounds played connected his caput erstwhile helium recovered himself successful beardown positions. He glared astatine me.
"Does it measurement heavy connected you?" helium snapped back. I reminded Hülkenberg we were talking astir him. He stared, letting an excruciating soundlessness bent successful the aerial for what seemed similar an eternity, arsenic if disgusted the question had adjacent been asked. The absorption made sense. He was sick of the narrative. But the crushed it was asked truthful often was precisely due to the fact that helium was truthful intelligibly bully enough. The grounds lingered and it didn't marque consciousness to anyone associated with the sport.
Even connected Friday up of this British Grand Prix, a chap writer interviewed Hülkenberg and asked him whether his record-breaking inferior inactive bothered him. Hülkenberg, by present with a antithetic position arsenic a begetter and a antheral enjoying his 2nd stint successful Formula 1 aft a little spell arsenic a super-sub successful 2020, 2021 and 2022, brushed it off.
"It's similar a acold cupful of coffee," helium quipped.
Hülkenberg ne'er has to perceive that question again. Given Sauber's caller signifier -- the squad has outscored Red Bull successful the past 4 races and is up to sixth successful the title -- and the increasing buzz astir the conversion to Audi successful 2026, the celebratory days mightiness lone conscionable beryllium opening for him.
