Hulkenberg: "We were there when it mattered"

While Sauber had to wait 23 Grands Prix to open its counter last year, it has now done so at the first meeting of 2025, thanks to Nico Hülkenberg's seventh place.

Published 16/03/2025 à 14:45

Michael Duforest

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Hulkenberg: "We were there when it mattered"

© Joao Filipe / DPPI

And three! Nico Hulkenberg finished in the points for the third consecutive time at the wheel of a Sauber. The performance, already strong, is even more so when we know that the two previous ones date back to the United States and Brazilian Grands Prix… in 2013! The German driver returns to Hinwil this year, as the spearhead of the Audi project, which will be officially launched next year. For his first Grand Prix in black and green, Hülkenberg played with the conditions, and was able to secure a top 7, where many drivers made blunders.

"I'm really happy, obviously.", he explained to the official F1 website. "For the first half of the race, we didn't think it could happen, but things really got going towards the end. We made the right choices, other teams struggled and we took advantage. We were there when it really mattered, and I'm happy to have scored these points."

If the Swiss team is rightly delighted on the evening of this first Grand Prix of the season, the calendar F1 wants us to turn the page very quickly... In just five days, it will be time to set off in Shanghai for the first tests of the Chinese GP! Until then, Sauber engineers will have a lot of data to sift through after this first round of 2025.

"It's always good to finish the first race, even more so in the points, but we learn a lot. We'll digest all this, analyze the data and move on to China."

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1 Comment (s)

Yves-Henri RANDIER

16/03/2025 at 03:25 a.m.

The Hulk is very solid! Who could have expected to see a Saubersteakick finish in the points in the first GP of the 1 season? This reassures the Audi staff a little, but must worry the Haas staff a little, who seem to be the last force on the grid.

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