Nico Hülkenberg F1 Profile & Career Stats

Nico Hülkenberg Biography

Nico Hulkenberg

Since a stellar pole position in 2010, Nico Hulkenberg has been one of the most talked about talents in the sport, and he was, seemingly, destined for the top.

However, now 28, the German's career has stalled slightly as the big teams look for a mixture of proven experience and youthful promise.

Hulkenberg has a solid team in Force India, but it is starting to appear unlikely that he will make the move to one of the sport’s bigger outfits. His loss, is Force India’s gain.

Hulkenberg was one of the most highly-rated young drivers around, after he had success at every level of racing. He won the Formula BMW, Formula Three and GP2 championships, while he also lead Germany to victory in the A1 championship in 2006.

On the back of all his achievements Hulkenberg signed to partner Rubens Barrichello at Williams in 2010. After a poor start to his F1 career, he picked up strong points in Britain, Hungary, Italy and Singapore.

Despite being outscored by the vastly more experienced Barrichello, Hulkenberg showed his real class with a blistering pole position in the wet conditions in Brazil. It was Williams first pole position in over five years. A start saw him eventually fall away to finish 8^th.

Despite such a strong finish to the campaign, Williams replaced Hulkenberg with Pastor Maldonado, a former team-mate of his from GP2, where Hulkenberg finished 64 points ahead. The Venezuelan was signed for his lucrative financial backing.

Nico Hulkenberg passes Jenson Button (2012 Brazil)

Force India moved quickly to sign the German for the 2011 season, but only as a reserve driver. However, he was back in 2012, as he replaced Adrian Sutil to partner Paul di Resta.

After another mediocre start to the season in which he was upstaged by his team-mate in a poor car, Hulkenberg rediscovered his very best form as the Force India improved.

This was highlighted by his performance in Brazil, where he was on course to win before he crashed into the back of Lewis Hamilton.

He finished the season in 11^th place in the championship with a total of 63 points. Di Resta, his highly rated team-mate, was 17 points adrift.

Hulkenberg's form was so good that he was tipped to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari, but after the Brazilian signed a new deal, he opted for Sauber instead.

Many saw this as a sideways move but with Massa’s future uncertain beyond 2012, it was believed that the move to the Ferrari powered cars might ease any transition in the future.

Force India VJM08 launch

That failed to happen, as Kimi Raikkonen was chosen instead and the German retuned to Force India.

By this time Hulkenberg was most of the most consistent performers on the grid and he showed that again, by finishing ninth in the standings and 37 points clear of Sergio Pérez, his new team-mate.

His season highlight came away from F1, as he became Le Mans champion.

If a top team doesn't gamble soon, a different form of racing may take Hulkenberg's fancy.

2016 was a very good season for Nico. The Force India VJM09 chassis fitted with the powerfull Mercedes PU was one of the quickest on the grid. Force India was even able to outperform the Williams this season. Nico wasn't that fortunate this season and had to retire because of several crashes and collisions. His team mate Perez did a lot better and scored 2 podiums. Nico was close to scoring a podium in Spa, were he finished 4th.

In 2017 Nico drove for Renault he didn't had a bad season, but as works driver you expect to be in front. That didn't happen this season. The Red Bull's with the same engine as Renault were over 1 second faster a lap.

This season team mate Jolyon Palmer couldn't get the best out of the car and had to make room for Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, who came from Toro Rosso and showed great athievements. This switch was quite good for Hulkenberg to up his game.

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Renault Sport F1 Team RS17.
Mexican Grand Prix, Saturday 28th October 2017. Mexico City, Mexico.

His best results in 2017 was 6th place, but he finished it 4 times in: Spain, Britain, Belgium and Abu Dhabi. He retired 7 times. Once because he hit the wall in Azerbaijan and 6! times with a technical problem.

On the 2017 championship drivers standings he ended up as 10th with 43 point He could have ended up a lot higher in table if his Renault RS17 was more reliable.

In 2018, the German spent a full season with Carlos Sainz as his teammate and was able to beat him by a close margin to lead the midfield in the WDC. Hulkenberg out-scored Sainz 69-53 and out-qualified him 12-9. His best result of 2018 was 5th position in his home Grand Prix in Germany.

For 2019, a new challenge was sitting in front of the German with Daniel Ricciardo moving to Renault from Red Bull. Despite starting the year with a strong showing at Melbourne, finishing 7th, Hulkenberg had a rough first half of 2019, scoring points only in three other occasions.

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Renault F1 Team RS19., 2019 Russian F1 GP at Sochi

His worst day of the first half of 2019 happened in the worst place for him, his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim. After running in second place and being overtaken by the two Mercedes, Hulkenberg was running fourth and with a clear chance for his much-awaited first podium due to Lewis Hamilton's 5-second penalty, however, it all turned out badly for him after he lost his car in the last corner of the circuit and drove straight into the wall.

In the internteam battle against Ricciardo, Hulkenberg did not look great before 2019's summer break. The Australian out-scored him 22-17 and out-qualified him 9-3, which is an impressive number, given Hulkenberg has dominated his teammates in qualifying since 2013.

On the 29th of August of 2019, Renault announced Esteban Ocon as Ricciardo's teammate for 2020, in place of Hulkenberg. The German, then, was the favourite to replace Romain Grosjean at Haas since Guenther Steiner, the director of the American team, said that Grosjean and Hulkenberg were the two options to be Kevin Magnussen's teammate in 2020.

However, Haas confirmed Grosjean for 2020 on the 19th of September, which generated many doubts about Hulkenberg's future in F1.

BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, BAHRAIN - FEBRUARY 23:

After every seat available for 2020 was fully occupied, the reality of Hulkenberg not driving in F1 in 2020 hit the paddock. The German, however, ended the year with Renault with six point-scoring positions in the last nine races. In the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he was voted Driver of the Day by the fans of the pinnacle of motorsport in what was probably his last F1 race, although he said he did not feel it was.

In 2020 and 2022, Hulkenberg stayed under the Formula 1 umbrella with Racing Point/Aston Martin as a reserve driver. Due to Sergio Pérez's positive Covid-19 test in 2020, he stepped in two races at Silverstone, even qualifying third for the 70th Anniversary GP.

Then, in 2022, Hulkenberg replaced Sebastian Vettel for the first two races of the calendar, also due to Covid-19.

After Mick Schumacher was sacked at Haas for the 2023 Formula 1 season, Hulkenberg was announced as his fellow German's replacement on 17 November 2022.

This meant that Hulkenberg returned to full-time duties as a Formula 1 driver for the first time since his departure from Renault in 2019.

In his first full F1 season since 2019, Hulkenberg scored points for Haas in only one Grand Prix, in Australia. The seventh place in Australia was the best finish in any race for Haas in 2023, and Hulkenberg also scored three more points in the Austrian GP Sprint Race, finishing sixth.

Haas finished in last place in the 2023 WCC standings, with the German driver scoring nine of the team's 12 points.

Official website: https://www.nicohulkenberg.net/

Nico Hulkenberg F1 Helmets

Nico Hulkenberg F1 Cars

Nico Hülkenberg Championship Results

Nico Hülkenberg F1 Seasons Summary

Year	Team	Engine	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	Laps	FL	Avg Pts	Points
2026	Audi	Audi	14	0	0	0	0	0	703	0	0.50	7
2025	Sauber	Ferrari	24	0	0	1	1	0	1286	0	2.13	51
2024	Haas	Ferrari	24	0	0	0	0	0	1270	0	1.71	41
2023	Haas	Ferrari	22	0	0	0	0	0	1251	0	0.41	9
2022	Aston Martin	Mercedes	2	0	0	0	0	0	107	0	0.00	0
2020	Racing Point	Mercedes	2	0	0	0	0	0	112	0	5.00	10
2019	Renault	Renault	21	0	0	0	0	0	1182	0	1.76	37
2018	Renault	Renault	21	0	0	0	0	0	947	0	3.29	69
2017	Renault	Renault	20	0	0	0	0	0	974	0	2.15	43
2016	Force India	Mercedes	21	0	0	0	0	0	1042	1	3.43	72
2015	Force India	Mercedes	19	0	0	0	0	0	901	0	3.05	58
2014	Force India	Mercedes	19	0	0	0	0	0	1036	0	5.05	96
2013	Sauber	Ferrari	18	0	0	0	0	0	1039	0	2.83	51
2012	Force India	Mercedes	20	0	0	0	0	0	1075	1	3.15	63
2010	Williams	Cosworth	19	0	0	0	0	1	923	0	1.16	22

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