Nico Hulkenberg has been racing in Formula 1 since 2010. However, during all this time racing, he’s failed to achieve a single podium. He holds the record for a driver with the most race starts (237) who hasn’t scored a podium. Hulkenberg has driven for multiple teams in his career, but has also gone seasons without a seat, and yet has always managed a return to the sport eventually. Despite his lack of success in terms of race finishes, the driver has proven to be proficient in his job. He scored a single pole position, which came in his debut season and has come in as a replacement driver as well to score points.
During his time racing, there have been moments when it seemed he was closing in on a top-three finish. Here are five of those times:
5. 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
In his third season in the sport, Nico Hulkenberg was part of the Force India lineup. At the Brazil GP in 2012, he had qualified seventh, but at one point, he was leading the race. During the event, the rain caused most of the field to get their tires changed to intermediates, but Hulk decided to stay on dry tires. This allowed him to climb up the grid, eventually passing Jenson Button for first place. He was later overtaken by Lewis Hamilton, and on Lap 54, the two drivers made contact. Hulkenberg slid into the back of the Briton’s car, causing him to receive a drive-through penalty. This meant that he ended the race in P5, but showed his capability of being a race winner.
4. 2016 Belgian Grand Prix
At the opening lap at Spa in 2016, a collision between Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Raikkonen allowed Hulkenberg to make up a lot of places immediately. He was running in second place behind Nico Rosberg when Kevin Magnussen crashed, bringing around a safety car. The German pitted, but the session was red-flagged. This allowed Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton, who took advantage of the suspended session, to complete their pit stops and push past Hulkenberg when the race started. The Force India driver crossed the line in fourth place, his career-best finish so far.
3. 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
On Lap 25 of the race, Nico Hulkenberg was running in P6. Ahead of him were Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Lance Stroll, and Daniel Ricciardo. Unfortunately, Hulkenberg crashed in Turn 7 of the Baku circuit, breaking his suspension and giving him a DNF result. However, if he hadn’t crashed, he might’ve been one of the drivers on the podium. Later on in the race, Hamilton, Vettel, and Massa all faced their problems, putting Hulk in contention. Ricciardo would go on to win the race, with Valtteri Bottas making it up to P2, and Stroll would take home his maiden podium finish.
2. 2019 German Grand Prix
During another wet-weather race, Nico Hulkenberg showed that he was capable of scoring a podium finish. At the Hockenheimring event, Hulk was behind the wheel of a Renault, and at one point was running second behind Max Verstappen. However, his podium hopes were defeated by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas when they overtook him, relegating him to P4. But on Lap 40, he made a mistake, slipping into the gravel and hitting the wall, giving him another DNF.
1. 2025 Spanish Grand Prix
Earlier this year, Hulkenberg, now driving for the Sauber team, put in another strong result. But, unfortunately, there was no podium. After starting from P15 on the grid, the German gained an impressive five places on the opening lap itself. Throughout the race, he climbed up, aided by solid pit stops, which gave him a finish of P5. This has been his best finish in a season since 2019, when he also had a highest finish of P5.
