Hülkenberg was 'in denial' about first F1 podium in British GP

F1

Hülkenberg went from almost last to third in the British Grand Prix

Nico Hülkenberg on the podium at the British GP

It took Hülkenberg 239 starts to get his podium

Getty Images

Author

Pablo Elizalde

Nico Hülkenberg admits he was “in denial” about finishing on the podium in the British Grand Prix.

The German came home third at Silverstone as he and his Sauber team executed an incredible race to go from 19th to the podium positions.

This milestone came after an exceptionally long wait of 239 race starts before Hülkenberg achieved his first top-three finish.

Prior to Sunday’s podium, Hülkenberg held the record for the most Formula 1 race starts without a podium finish.

Hülkenberg’s career in F1 began in 2010, and despite many near-misses and strong performances, the podium eluded him until Sunday. He had finished fourth three times before.

The Sauber driver had benefited from the right strategy calls to move up to third after overtaking Aston Martin‘s Lance Stroll near the end of the race.

Hülkenberg had to resist pressure from home hero Lewis Hamilton, who was catching up fast when both were running on intermediate tyres.

However, when all drivers switched to slicks towards the end, Hamilton lost contact after going off track, giving Hülkenberg some breathing room that finally made the German believe the podium was realistic.

“I think I was in denial until probably the last pitstop,” Hülkenberg said. “And then when I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, ‘OK, this is good. This is some breathing space’.

“But then he was catching quite quickly. So yeah, the pressure was there. It was an intense race.

“But like I said, we didn’t crack. No mistakes. And obviously, really, really happy with that.”

Related article

He added: “I was thinking that obviously he’s gonna give it all here in front of his home crowd and I was like, sorry guys, but it’s also my day. I gotta stick my neck out and yeah, super happy and thank you very much for the great energy and support here every year.”

Speaking about his first podium, he said: “It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? But yeah, I always knew, you know, we have it in us.

“I have it in me somewhere. So, yeah, I mean, what a race coming from virtually last, you know, doing it all over again from last weekend.

“It’s pretty surreal, to be honest. Not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions. It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it. The right calls, the right tyres at the right moment. Made no mistakes. Quite incredible.

The result elevated Sauber to sixth in the standings, the Swiss squad having outscored all teams except McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in the last four rounds.

Comments

Loading Comments

You may also like

View all