Nico Hülkenberg

Nico Hülkenberg, born on 19 August 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein, Germany, began his motorsport career in karting at nine and won the German junior and senior karting championships in 2002 and 2003. Via Formula BMW (champion 2005), the A1 Grand Prix series and the Formula 3 Euro Series (champion 2008), he won the GP2 championship in his rookie season in 2009.

Hülkenberg made his Formula 1 debut for Williams in 2010 and took his only pole position to date that same year at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Spells at Force India, Sauber, Renault, Racing Point, Aston Martin and Haas followed, during which he earned a reputation as a reliable points scorer while holding the unwanted record for the most Grand Prix starts without a podium for years. In between, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche in 2015, the first active Formula 1 driver to do so since 1991.

It was only at his 239th Grand Prix start, in 2025 at Silverstone, that he finally took his first Formula 1 podium with third place, ending the longest wait for a maiden podium in the sport’s history. When he had earlier set the unwanted record, he joked that it was “just the start of the Hulkenberg era.”

For 2026 he moved with the team, now competing as Audi’s works squad, alongside Gabriel Bortoleto. Having grown up near the Dutch border, Hülkenberg speaks German, Dutch, French and English.