Aged 28, Nico Hulkenberg is still one of the hottest talents on the Formula One grid. He recently became a Le Mans 24 hour winner with Porsche in June of this year — his greatest achievement in motorsport to date. But why, despite his obvious talent, has he not been picked up by any of the top teams in F1?
Nico Hulkenberg: The Lost Prophet
It has been quite clear since Nico’s early career that he is very talented. He made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he became the German junior karting champion. The following year he won the German kart championship. During the early part of his career Nico was managed by Willi Weber, Michael Schumacher’s former manager. He praised Hulkenberg for being an “unbelievable talent”. He also gave him his now synonymous nickname: “The Hulk” due to his personality change behind the wheel of a racecar.
He has been successful in every series throughout his junior career in Formula BMW, A1GP, Formula three in which he followed Paul Di Resta and Lewis Hamilton as champion. In 2009 GP2 saw Nico’s arrival with the ART team. He made a dominant start to the series and eventually became champion at the first attempt; one of only three drivers to do so.
2010 saw Hulkenberg’s arrival in Formula One with the Williams team. His biggest moment was securing pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix. On a wet track during qualifying with no further rain due, the track was drying all the time. Nico braved the decision to try slick tyres and shot to pole with his final run.
Unfortunately Williams dropped him in 2011 in favour of 2010 GP2 champion Pastor Maldonando who also brought a huge budget with him in PDVSA. Force India took in Hulkenberg as a third driver for the season. 2012 saw him promoted to race alongside Paul Di Resta. Again at the Brazilian Grand Prix Nico led the race on merit in tricky conditions but an unfortunate clash with Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren into turn one put an end to chances of possible victory.
In 2013 Nico made the move to Sauber. After successful years in 2011 and 2012, it seemed like a logical move to head towards a team on the up. Unfortunately with the team suffering low finances the car was not as quick as expected, but Nico always outperformed the car.
Towards the end of 2013 there was much speculation as to Nico’s future. Talks with Mclaren and Ferrari looked to have stalled despite potential rumours a draft contract from the Scuderia was ready. Lotus looked to be the most likely destination once Kimi was confirmed to head to Ferrari instead.
A company named Quantum was in talks to buy the team. If the deal was successful they said outright that they would take Hulkenberg over the well-funded Pastor Maldonando. However, the deal fell through after the money never arrived, leaving Nico in the cold. Luckily, Force India were more than happy to pick him up once more.
In the early part of 2015 Nico was offered the chance by the Porsche LMP1 team to drive for them at the Le Mans 24 hour. He took it, then proceeded to win it on his first attempt, merely confirming evermore the talent that lies within him.
There is still time for Nico “The Hulk” Hulkenberg to get a top seat in Formula One, but with many outfits already looking to their own academy drivers for the future it is very hard to find where he may fit in. Being already a Le Mans winner too, could his career lie outside of Formula One and inside the WEC instead?
He deserves his chance. That much can be said. But for how much longer will he wait in Formula One for his shot at the championship he most certainly has the skills to fight for? If a top team doesn’t pick him up soon, Nico could move out of Formula One and become one of the sport’s missed greats.
