Nico Hülkenberg made his Formula 1 debut at the Bahrain 2010 Grand Prix for Williams, the first race in the 2010 campaign. Since then, he took for several F1 teams, took a sports step, won the 24 hours of Le Mans and returned to drive for Haas and Sauber. But more than 238 F1 start, he had never climbed on a podium.
Until today.
Despite the 19th year’s dumber at the British Grand Prix, her 239th start of F1, Hülkenberg has made his way through the field, mastering both delicate conditions and most of the grid, to finish third for her podium F1. And while the 37 -year -old veteran celebrated, the praise flocked throughout the paddock for his first podium.
This praise started even though the drivers worked on the lane of the stands on the recharge time. Oscar Piastri, who felt deprived of a victory after the race officials made a ten -second penalty, said that when I returned to the stands: “Yes, I think I will be banned for the year if I say something here. Thank you for the effort. At least Hülkenberg has obtained a podium here.”
While the media sessions began and the teams published reports after the race, the praise continued to flock through the paddock.
“Congratulations to Nico for his podium is a great success for him and his team,” said Charles Leclerc de Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton, who put Hülkenberg under pressure in the last stages of the British Grand Prix for this last podium, also paid tribute to the veteran driver. “Third place sometimes felt at hand, but credit to Nico on his first podium, he led a solid race,” said Hamilton in Ferrari’s post-race report.
“Finally, congratulations to Nico for his first podium. Given his indisputable talent, he deserves it,” added Ferrari Frédéric Vasseur.
“First, congratulations to Sauber and Nico – an extraordinary result today and well deserved in these difficult conditions,” said Williams team director James Vowles.
“I am very happy for Nico [Hülkenberg] To mark his first podium and I hope he appreciates celebrations, “said his veteran colleague Fernando Alonso.
Other drivers and teams went to social networks with their praise, starting with Max Verstappen:
There was even a gift of champagne, graciousness of Mercedes:
The driver, in addition to the champagne, was his teammate Recruit Gabriel Bortoleto:
For his part, Hülkenberg started his comments after the race by noting that he had a podium “in me somewhere” with Jenson Button Trackside.
“It’s been a long time to come, right? But, yes, I always knew we have it in us, I got it somewhere.” It’s quite surreal, to be honest. I don’t know how everything went, but obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions. It was a survival fight for many of the race. I think we were really on it. The right calls, the right tires, at the right time. Made no mistakes and, yes, quite incredible. “
This continued at the FIA press conference.
“So, yes, everything that is happening, a great relief, a very happy, very positive day,” said Hülkenberg. “From a bottom low, yesterday being almost the last, literally on the grid, this result is somehow surreal. It will take a few days to treat everything and take everything. Good news, is that we have two weeks now to take advantage of it and to celebrate it correctly in next week before leaving.”
Asked about the celebrations on the podium – and the ten years it had been since he was the last, which came to Le Mans in 2015 – Hülkenberg relayed that he “treated” the celebration.
“I felt good. I still remembered how to do it. I did it a lot in junior stuff and I had to wait a little. But it happened so quickly, the race, and you still find it,” said Hülkenberg. “Then, so many emotions, so many people who come to you, a lot of positivity, a lot of congratulations. For the moment, just happy, relieved. But as I said, it will sink in the next few hours and the next few days, and I think I will feel even more pleasure in the coming week.”
As for what is possible for him and Sauber this season, Hülkenberg noted that the team was now in the fight in the midfield and a “serious competitor” to start. With his podium, Sauber reached sixth place in the F1 manufacturers’ championship ranking with 41 points, five before the bulls of seventh place in Visa silver and 18 behind Williams.
“While we have made very good improvements from Barcelona, today is obviously circumstantial, and the conditions have made this race and this result possible,” said Hülkenberg. “But I think that in the fight in the midfield, we have definitely taken momentum, and we are a serious competitor there. This is where we fight, but it is always a question of maximizing each race, every weekend, and trying to do well.”
