On the first weekend of July, the 2025 Silverstone Grand Prix shook the world of motorsports. It saw Lando Norris win his home race, Lewis Hamilton break his impressive streak of podium finishes, and, perhaps most importantly, Nico Hulkenberg stand on the podium. Not only was it the first time the German had ever managed to do so, but it was also Sauber’s first podium since 2012. On top of that, he achieved it after beginning the race from the very back of the grid. How did he do it?
To understand the gravity of the situation, one must know the trajectory of Hulkenberg’s Formula One career. He first joined the sport full-time in 2010, having previously worked as a reserve driver for Williams, a team he had joined. In his first season, he achieved a pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but lost the lead of the race and finished the day in P8.
Hulkenberg was released by Williams after one season and joined Force India as a reserve driver for 2011. After a year in the position, he became one of the team’s main drivers for the following season. While on the team, he managed to achieve an impressive P4 at the Belgian Grand Prix, but never managed to stand on the podium. He came close to winning the last race of 2012, but a drive-through penalty saw the dream of standing on the highest step of the podium slipping away from his grasp.
After spending 2013 in Sauber, Hulkenberg returned to Force India to drive alongside Sergio Perez for the following three seasons. In 2017, he joined Renault, a team he’d stay with until 2019. During his last season with the team, he finished with significantly fewer points than his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and was ultimately let go. No other teams decided to sign him as one of their main drivers. He spent three seasons as a reserve driver, either for Racing Point or Aston Martin.
For the bigger part of his career, Hulkenberg has been a good, dependable driver stuck in midfield machinery. He had very few occasions to fight for race wins or podiums, ending up fourth or fifth on a couple of occasions. His Formula One story seemed almost unfair, given that he was widely regarded as a driver good enough to win a few races.
When Hulkenberg was released by Renault at the end of the 2019 season, it seemed like his career was all but over. Surprisingly, in 2023, Haas announced that he would drive for the team alongside Kevin Magnussen. The duo spent two seasons as teammates. Neither driver stayed with Haas past 2024. While Magnussen didn’t sign with any other team, Hulkenberg joined Sauber a year before the team was set to become Audi. He will stay with the team past the 2025 season.
While the story of his career provides a nice background to the events at hand, it still doesn’t explain how Hulkenberg managed to take the unreliable Sauber from P19, all the way to P3. Everything came down to a great strategy employed by Sauber. The Grand Prix began with two virtual safety cars, one after another.
The first was called after Liam Lawson went off track, and the second after Gabriel Bortoleto, Hulkenberg’s teammate, followed his lead. At that point, the track, which at the beginning of the race was wet enough for all drivers to bolt on intermediate tires, began drying. At the same time, rain clouds loomed in the distance, threatening a downpour in the next few laps. While some drivers changed their tires for slicks, hoping to make up a few positions, Hulkenberg stayed on his inters, gaining quite a few places due to the pit commotion.
The rain began falling around the 10th lap of the race and quickly intensified enough for a full safety car to be called onto the track. Many drivers used the opportunity to pit, with some changing their slicks back to inters, and others switching their old rain tires to fresh ones. Due to his well-timed stops, by the time the dust settled, Hulkenberg had found himself in P5, behind the two McLarens, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. This was already an improvement from the P19 he had started in, but the German driver wasn’t done yet.
After a second full safety car, this one brought out by Isack Hadjar’s accident, ended, Verstappen spun and fell from P2 to P10, promoting Hulkenberg to 4th position. On lap 34, the conditions were deemed safe enough for DRS to be enabled. Hulkenberg took advantage of the new circumstances and overtook the much slower Stroll. With that, he became the third car on track. At that point, it was a matter of some great, mistake-free driving.
On the 239th race of his career, Hulkenberg achieved his first podium. It was a day of celebration not only in the Sauber garage but also among the many people who believed he deserved to see his efforts crowned.
Hulkenberg’s career wasn’t the easiest. It was filled with mediocre teams, heartbreaking losses, and years away from the sport the driver had dedicated his life to. He never gave up and continued to put his all into every single weekend. In Silverstone, the efforts paid off.
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