Nico Hülkenberg

Interesting facts

Born in Emmerich am Rhein, Germany, Hülkenberg started karting at ten and was spotted by Willi Weber - Michael Schumacher's former manager - who called him an 'unbelievable talent' and gave him the nickname 'The Hulk.' He swept through junior categories, winning the 2008 F3 Euro Series title and then, as a rookie, the 2009 GP2 championship, becoming only the third driver after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton to pull off that feat. As an F1 rookie in 2010 he stunned the field with pole position for Williams at a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix, beating Sebastian Vettel by over a second, though he lost the lead on the opening lap and finished eighth. His career took him through Force India, Sauber, Renault, Haas and most recently Sauber/Audi, and for years he held the record for most race starts without a podium - 239 races - before finally celebrating third place at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Outside Formula 1, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 for Porsche, one of the biggest results of his racing career. At the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix he confronted Kevin Magnussen after being pushed off track, calling him 'nasty' and 'the most unsporting driver of the whole grid,' to which Magnussen replied bluntly but calmly. Nico Hülkenberg has been racing in Formula 1 since 2010 as a German driver. He scored a total of 629 championship points over his career. His best season was 2018, when he finished 7th in the championship with 69 points.