The British Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend had one big protagonist. And I'm not talking about the McLaren drivers Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, nor Max Verstappen, who had a spin that pushed him out of the podium. I'm referring to veteran driver Nico Hülkenberg, who after 242 race entries and 239 race starts since 2010, finally earned his first podium.
Hülkenberg, currently racing for F1 team Kick Sauber, started on P19 and finished third, a masterclass that shows how much Sauber has improved after they introduced an upgrade package last month: Hulkenberg rose from P16 to fifth in Spain, from P13 to eighth in Canada, and from P20 to ninth in Austria.
This is also Sauber's first podium finish since 2012, when Kamui Kobayashi finished third in Japan. Thus, the atmosphere was festive and emotional at Sauber, with Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley describing it as "the most overdue podium in F1 history".
Nico Himself to be "ecstatic", praising his team effort, attributing his success to the weather conditions. "I think if it had been a dry race, the day would have looked very different for us, but we made the most of the conditions and took every opportunity".
Meanwhile, every F1 driver in the grid congratulated Nico on his third place, including his main pursuer Lewis Hamilton, who was disappointed that he was kept at bay for most of the race (via F1.com). One of the drivers who praised him the most was Carlos Sainz, former teammate at Renault in 2018: "For me, the fact that people kept cursing him, the fact that he didn't have any podiums, for me it was completely irrelevant. For me, he's always been a top-five driver in the grid every time he's been in F1, his level of talent and race execution is incredible."
Oscar Piastri, who finished second, said that Nico's result "was the highlight of the day" despite his disappointment over his second place behind Lando Norris after a ten-second penalty, and Max Verstappen said that "the race wasn't that enjoyable for me but it was nice to see Nico get his first podium and I'm sure he will be celebrating tonight".
In his 15 years at Formula 1, Nico Hülkenberg has also raced for Williams, Force India, Renault, Racing Point, and Haas. He also took part in the 2015 edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans, winning the endurance race with Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber.