{"id":245885,"date":"2025-07-07T18:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245885\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T18:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:08:13","slug":"what-nico-hulkenbergs-surprise-f1-podium-means-for-sauber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245885\/","title":{"rendered":"What Nico Hulkenberg’s surprise F1 podium means for Sauber"},"content":{"rendered":"

You have to really want to get to the far end of the Silverstone paddock, as there is not a need to wander down that far unless you have a reason \u2013 especially in the rain. But on Sunday evening after a wet British Grand Prix, it was the only place to be as Sauber<\/a> filled its hospitality unit with music, champagne and celebrations.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg<\/a>, at the 239th time of asking, had finally achieved his first-ever Formula 1 podium, having driven a perfect race from the back row of the grid. There was no doubting the 37-year-old was the deserved centre of attention; every member of the Sauber team wanted a picture with the German and his LEGO podium trophy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But as the champagne corks popped on bottles delivered to the bottom end of the paddock by Mercedes<\/a> and Aston Martin, as Sauber had not anticipated requiring so much bubbly, the team was also toasting a milestone on its own journey to become the works Audi squad from next season.<\/p>\n

The joy of a third-place finish behind the dominating McLaren<\/a> duo of Lando Norris<\/a> and Oscar Piastri<\/a> led to chants, pitlane photographs and a delay to team principal Jonathan Wheatley\u2019s post-race media session \u2013 which was the best-attended since he stepped into the role earlier in 2025.<\/p>\n

As expected, Hulkenberg\u2019s fine achievement was the first business on the agenda for a man who had witnessed plenty of podiums, victories and championships during his time as Red Bull\u2019s sporting director.<\/p>\n

\u201cNico drove an outstanding race today. One of the best I’ve seen at Silverstone. One of the best I’ve seen of any driver, ever,\u201d he enthused.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan <\/p>\n

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and Mattia Binotto, COO and CTO of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone\/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems incredible to me that we’re all celebrating a podium, as it feels to me like he should have been getting them all his career. It seems to be the longest-waited podium ever. He showed his class today, didn’t put a wheel wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve considered him to be an extraordinary talent for a very long time. And I think I’ve been consistent in saying that to everyone here. It seemed incredible to me that he’s never achieved a podium in his career. I think he showed today what he’s capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Wheatley therefore think that Hulkenberg could be capable of even more? \u201cI think given the right race car, given the right circumstances, he’s capable of delivering that. I have no doubt he can win a race,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The podium mattered to Hulkenberg, but it also matters to Sauber \u2013 it was the team\u2019s first since 2012, and continued a run of results that had also seen it take a double points finish at the previous round in Austria, where rookie Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a> was the most eye-catching of the two drivers.<\/p>\n

Having suffered a dismal 2024 scoring just four points and not producing a car for the current season that seemed likely to change its trajectory, Sauber vaulted to the midfield through vital upgrades \u2013 and the arrival of Wheatley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we’ve talked about how important momentum is in a team. And so really, for me, what I take from today is people start believing in us,\u201d said Wheatley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Watch: How Norris and Hulkenberg celebrated after a Chaotic British GP – Race Review<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say the words. I can say we’re gaining momentum, I can say we’re putting performance on the tarmac. I can say that Mattia [Binotto, Sauber COO and CTO] and all the hard work he’s been putting in before I came here is coming to light.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it’s true. We’ve got a very long journey towards where we need to be as a team. And it’s a great stepping stone on that journey. The team made all the right decisions in terms of strategy – stayed out when we needed to stay out and then switched to the medium at the right time, and I’m just very, very proud of everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not only the strategy, but it was also a very good pace today in those conditions. I think if it had been a dry race today, perhaps I wouldn’t have so many of you stood around me right now!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe faced our challenges with the C45 and this really didn’t feel like a circuit that would suit us. But I think, you know, cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Nico drove an incredible race.\u201d<\/p>\n

It leaves Sauber sixth in the constructors\u2019 standings, a position that seems so remarkable given it was tipped by many to finish bottom once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photos from British GP – Race<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

In this article<\/p>\n

Mark Mann-Bryans\n<\/p>\n

Formula 1\n<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg\n<\/p>\n

Sauber\n<\/p>\n

Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics<\/p>\n

Subscribe to news alerts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You have to really want to get to the far end of the Silverstone paddock, as there is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41621,92869,707,13,12,12646,4858,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-245885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-british-gp","9":"tag-f1-british-grand-prix-2025","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nico-hulkenberg","14":"tag-sauber","15":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114813292027019865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}