Peter Lyon
July 7, 2025
Last Sunday turned from one of Nico Hulkenberg’s worst days in F1 to his greatest-ever achievement. His first-ever podium finish! The Sauber driver began his day at Silverstone on the last row of the grid, which is as far back as a driver can go in Formula 1, but ended up in P3, and getting smothered in champagne by two happy McLaren drivers, Lando Norris who won and Oscar Piastri who came second.
With the help of a brilliantly planned Sauber strategy, the 37-year-old surged through the pack to secure his first F1 podium on his 239th try after 52 laps of wild wet racing.
Hulkenberg’s incredible third-place finish at the British Grand Prix, which broke the previous record for the longest time before placing fifth at 5,593 days, was the result of 15 years of preparation.
After ten seasons in Formula One, the German was left without a seat in 2020. He made his debut with Williams at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix and three years later, returned with Haas.
Hulkenberg claimed to be “pretty empty” after the race despite being “relieved” to take home the podium he had so long desired.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this weekend, being virtually last [on Saturday], so a pretty bad day to one of the best days of my career – it’s obviously a lot to take in,” Hulkenberg added.
In addition to the points he had earned in the previous three races, Hulkenberg’s leap from 19th to third on a dreadfully bad summer’s day in the UK puts him in ninth place in the drivers’ world championship.
“That race was intense, with all the changes of conditions, it was sketchy,” he stated. “It’s never simple to race at a fast track with variable conditions.
“While I’m happy and relived, I’m mostly tired, and looking forward to getting home, to be honest.”
One of the first people to congratulate Hulkenberg was his 17-year-old rookie Sauber teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, who said on the radio, “Man, you don’t know how happy I am for you. You are a legend. Absolutely insane what you did today.”
“It was a survival fight for a lot of the race,” he stated, before adding, “It’s going to sink in more over the next few hours and the next few days, and I think I’ll feel the enjoyment even more in the week to come.”
Even drivers whose day at Siverstone had not gone as planned appreciated the enormity of Hulkenberg’s achievement.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
A gloomy Oscar Piastri, whose teammate Lando Norris won the race on home soil after he was given a 10-second time penalty for sudden braking under the safety car, took comfort in the fact that “At least Hulkenberg got a podium here.”
