Nico Hülkenberg

Nico Hülkenberg

Born	19 August 1987 (1987-08-19) (age 24)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	2010
Teams	Williams
Races	19
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	22
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
First race	2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last race	2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2010 position	14th (22 points)

Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg (born 19 August 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein, North Rhine-Westphalia, former West Germany) is a German professional racing driver. He was the 2009 champion of the GP2 Series, and is a previous champion of both the Formula 3 Euro Series and A1 Grand Prix, as part of A1 Team Germany. He is one of three drivers since 2005 to win the GP2 series championship in his debut season, the others being Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Hülkenberg raced in Formula One in 2010 with the Williams team. Despite winning the first pole position for Williams in over 5 years he was not retained for 2011. He has instead joined Force India as a test and reserve driver.

Career

Early Career

Hülkenberg made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he was German Junior Karting Champion and the following year he won the German Kart Championship.^[1]

Hülkenberg is currently managed by Willi Weber, the long-time manager of Michael Schumacher. Weber has gone on record saying that Hülkenberg would be ready for Formula One by 2008. He has also praised Hülkenberg as an "unbelievable talent" and says he reminds him of Schumacher as a young driver. He also stated that he nicknamed him "The Hulk", after the fictional superhero, in reference to Hülkenberg changing his personality whilst at the wheel. ^[2]

Formula BMW (2005)

2005 saw his debut in German Formula BMW. His first season was a very successful one, with Hülkenberg dominating the championship and winning the title comfortably. He finished first in the Formula BMW world final but was stripped of the win after it was claimed he had brake-tested his rivals during a safety car period.^[1]

A1 Grand Prix (2006–07)

He also joined the German A1 Grand Prix team for the 2006–07 season. Nine wins in his rookie season made him the most successful driver in A1GP history. It meant he almost single-handedly won Germany the championship with 128 points, 35 more than Team New Zealand.^[1]

Formula Three (2006–08)

Hülkenberg finished fifth in the German Formula Three Championship (ATS Formel 3 Cup) in 2006. For 2007 he switched to the Formula 3 Euro Series with the ASM team that had taken Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to the last two championships. His first win came at the Norisring^[1] from 18th on the grid, he won again in the rain at Zandvoort^[3] and added a third at the Nürburgring.^[4] But he ran into trouble at Magny-Cours, being penalised in qualifying for passing the chequered flag twice, and crashing into Filip Salaquarda in the race.^[1]

He won the (non-championship) Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder from team mate (and F3 Euro Series championship leader) Romain Grosjean after the Swiss stalled at the start.^[5]

Hülkenberg won the Formula 3 Euro Series championship in 2008. Almost unbeatable on a Saturday, Hülkenberg amassed 76 of his total of 85 points during the feature races run that day, taking seven wins in the progress.

GP2 Series (2009)

Hülkenberg driving for ART Grand Prix at the Monaco round of the 2009 GP2 Series season

He made his GP2 Asia Series début for the ART Grand Prix team at the third round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season in Bahrain, where he took pole position at his first attempt.^[6] He finished both races in fourth place and this left him in seventh place in the championship. His second race weekend in Qatar, saw him become the first night race pole-sitter, and promptly turned that into becoming the first race-winner under lights after a dominant performance. Such was his performance that he ended up over thirteen seconds clear of second-placed driver Sergio Pérez.^[7] He finished third in the sprint race, taking his championship points tally to 27 from just four races. Despite this, he finished sixth in the championship.

Hülkenberg continued with ART into the 2009 GP2 Series season (partnering Pastor Maldonado), and took his first win in dominant fashion, during his home round of the series at the Nürburgring. With the series' top eight inverted grid, Hülkenberg started eighth for the sprint race. He won the sprint race as well, becoming the first driver to do the weekend double since Giorgio Pantano at Monza in the 2006 season. In doing so, he became only the second driver to complete the clean sweep, with pole position, two fastest laps and two wins; equalling the achievements of Nelson Piquet, Jr., who achieved it at the Hungaroring, also in 2006. Hülkenberg clinched the title with two races to spare, after a third place finish in the Monza sprint race, shadowing Brazilians Luiz Razia and Lucas di Grassi home. The result left him with an unassailable 22-point lead heading to the final round, and in the process becoming the first driver to clinch the championship without the need for a final round decider. A fifth win followed at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, allowing the German to break the 100-point barrier, and eventually won the title by 25 points from Vitaly Petrov. Worthy of note is that Hülkenberg ended the season 64 points clear of his team mate Pastor Maldonado, who would later go on to get his Williams race seat for the 2011 F1 season.

Formula One

Hülkenberg scored his first World Championship point at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Hülkenberg completed a Formula One test in 2007. Willi Weber confirmed that he was in contact with Renault boss Flavio Briatore about organising a first F1 test for the young German, but he finally got his chance to test for an F1 team on 4 December 2007; when he was given a seat by Williams at Jerez. The two-day test went well, outpacing official driver Kazuki Nakajima on the first day, and only 0.4 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg. His flawless performance in the test impressed the Williams team and secured himself a test driver seat in the team for 2008.^[8] In late 2008, Williams offered Hülkenberg to continue his testing contract for the 2009 F1 season.^[9]

Hülkenberg's manager Willi Weber has stated that he wants Scuderia Ferrari to sign Hülkenberg in three years time. Hülkenberg was linked to the vacant seat at Ferrari after Luca Badoer's unimpressive performances during the 2009 European and Belgian Grands Prix after filling in for the injured Felipe Massa but Ferrari chose Giancarlo Fisichella.

Williams (2010)

On 2 November 2009, Hülkenberg was confirmed to race for Williams in 2010.^[10] Hülkenberg's team-mate for his first season would be the experienced driver Rubens Barrichello, who moved from Brawn GP which in turn was bought out by Mercedes-Benz.

Hülkenberg made his debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix, recovering from an early spin to finish in fourteenth position. At the second round in Australia, he was involved in a first-lap incident with Kamui Kobayashi, after the Japanese driver's front wing failed and sent him into the barrier, rebounding into the path of Hülkenberg. At the third round in Malaysia, Hülkenberg made it to Q3 for the first time, qualifying in fifth place; out-qualifying team-mate Barrichello for the first time. Hülkenberg looked set to finish eleventh in the race until Fernando Alonso blew his engine three laps from the end, thus promoting Hülkenberg to tenth place and with the new-for-2010 points system, Hülkenberg along with Jaime Alguersuari scored their first points in Formula One. He was tenth again at Silverstone, and at the Hungarian Grand Prix he finished sixth, a career best. He also picked up points finishes in Italy, Singapore, and Korea. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Renault driver Vitaly Petrov misjudged a move at the start and cut across Hülkenberg's nose thus taking them both out of the race. Towards the end of the season there were reports that he could lose his seat at Williams to the GP2 Series champion Pastor Maldonado due to the money Maldonado could bring to the team.^[11] Force India's Adrian Sutil was also linked to replace Hülkenberg at Williams.

On 6 November he gained his first Formula One pole position, by 1.049 seconds over Sebastian Vettel at the Brazilian Grand Prix. This was the Williams team's first pole position since the 2005 European Grand Prix. Hülkenberg completed a final lap after pole position was already secured, increasing his gap to the rest of the field.^[12] After losing the lead on the opening lap, he eventually finished the race in eighth place.

After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, team boss Frank Williams confirmed that Hülkenberg would not be driving for the team in 2011.^[13]

Force India (2011)

Hülkenberg as Force India's third driver at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

On 26 January 2011, Hülkenberg was confirmed as Force India's reserve driver for the 2011 season, where he would drive for the team in the Friday practice sessions.^[14] He has replaced Paul di Resta, who has moved up to race for the team. He replaced di Resta for the first practice sessions of all the races apart from Monaco and Hungary, where he replaced Adrian Sutil.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2005	Formula BMW ADAC	Josef Kaufmann Racing	20	8	9	6	14	287	1st
	Formula BMW World Final		1	0	0	1	1	N/A	3rd
2006	German Formula Three	Josef Kaufmann Racing	18	1	3	5	6	78	5th
	V de V Challenge Endurance Moderne	Griffith's	2	1	2	?	1	50	17th
2006–07	A1 Grand Prix	A1 Team Germany	20	9	3	5	14	128	1st
2007	Formula 3 Euro Series	ASM Formule 3	20	4	2	3	8	72	3rd
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	23rd
	Masters of Formula 3		1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
2008	Formula 3 Euro Series	ART Grand Prix	20	7	6	7	8	87	1st
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	1	0	1	N/A	2nd
2008–09	GP2 Asia Series	ART Grand Prix	4	1	2	0	2	27	6th
2009	GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	20	5	3	5	10	100	1st
	Formula One	WilliamsF1	Test driver
2010	Formula One	WilliamsF1	19	0	1	0	0	22	14th
2011	Formula One	Force India	Test driver

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2006–07	Germany	NED SPR 4	NED FEA 1	CZE SPR Ret	CZE FEA 4	BEI SPR 5	BEI FEA Ret	MYS SPR 2	MYS FEA 1	IDN SPR 5	IDN FEA 2	NZL SPR 1	NZL FEA 1	AUS SPR 1	AUS FEA 1	RSA SPR 1	RSA FEA 1	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	SHA SPR 3	SHA FEA 3	GBR SPR 2	GBR SPR 1	1st	128

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2007	ART Grand Prix	Dallara F305/021	Mercedes	HOC1 1 2	HOC1 2 7	BRH 1 4	BRH 2 6	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 1	MAG 1 Ret	MAG 2 14	MUG 1 21	MUG 2 14	ZAN 1 6	ZAN 2 1	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 4	CAT 1 2	CAT 2 8	NOG 1 3	NOG 2 3	HOC2 1 1	HOC2 2 7	3rd	72
2008	ART Grand Prix	Dallara F308/009	Mercedes	HOC1 1 Ret	HOC1 2 Ret	MUG 1 1	MUG 2 5	PAU 1 Ret	PAU 2 16	NOR 1 1	NOR 2 Ret	ZAN 1 1	ZAN 2 13	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 4	BRH 1 1	BRH 2 5	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 Ret	LMS 1 24	LMS 2 8	HOC2 1 1	HOC2 2 3	1st	87

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2009	ART Grand Prix	ESP FEA 9	ESP SPR 14	MON FEA 5	MON SPR 3	TUR FEA 5	TUR SPR 4	GBR FEA 3	GBR SPR 5	GER FEA 1	GER SPR 1	HUN FEA 1	HUN SPR 7	VAL FEA 2	VAL SPR 1	BEL FEA 2	BEL SPR Ret	ITA FEA 6	ITA SPR 3	POR FEA 1	POR SPR 16	1st	100

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2008–09	ART Grand Prix	CHN FEA	CHN SPR	DUB FEA	DUB SPR	BHR1 FEA 4	BHR1 SPR 4	QAT FEA 1	QAT SPR 3	MYS FEA	MYS SPR	BHR2 FEA	BHR2 SPR	6th	27

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2010	AT&T Williams	Williams FW32	Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8	BHR 14	AUS Ret	MAL 10	CHN 15	ESP 16	MON Ret	TUR 17	CAN 13	EUR Ret	GBR 10	GER 13	HUN 6	BEL 14	ITA 7	SIN 10	JPN Ret	KOR 10	BRA 8	ABU 16	14th	22
2011	Force India F1 Team	Force India VJM04	Mercedes FO 108Y 2.4 V8	AUS TD	MAL TD	CHN TD	TUR TD	ESP TD	MON	CAN TD	EUR TD	GBR TD	GER TD	HUN TD	BEL TD	ITA TD	SIN	JPN TD	KOR	IND	ABU	BRA	–	–

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Meet the rookies: Nico Hülkenberg". F1Fanatic.co.uk. 2007. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/08/16/meet-the-rookies-nico-hulkenberg/. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
2. ^ "Weber: he's the next Schumi!". Overdrive. 2006-12-05. http://www.odmotoring.com/index.php?display=racing&id=125. Retrieved 2006-12-05. 
3. ^ "F3 Euro Zandvoort 2: Hülkenberg wins in wet". MaximumMotorsport.co.uk. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20071203054933/http://www.maximummotorsport.co.uk/2007/07/29/f3-euro-zandvoort-2-hulkenberg-wins-in-wet/. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
4. ^ "F3 Euro Nürburgring 1: Hülkenberg dominates". MaximumMotorsport.co.uk. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20071103004540/http://www.maximummotorsport.co.uk/2007/09/02/f3-euro-nurburgring-hulkenberg-dominates/. Retrieved 2007-09-03. 
5. ^ "Hülkenberg wins F3 Masters as Grosjean stalls". MaximumMotorsport.co.uk. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009235246/http://www.maximummotorsport.co.uk/2007/08/05/hulkenberg-wins-masters-as-grosjean-stalls/. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
6. ^ "Hulkenberg takes pole on GP2 debut". autosport.com. 2009-01-22. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72942. Retrieved 2009-01-22. 
7. ^ "Hulkenberg storms to Qatar victory". autosport.com. 2009-02-13. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73272. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
8. ^ "Williams sign Hulkenberg as test driver". autosport.com. 2007-12-13. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64371. Retrieved 2007-12-14. 
9. ^ "Hulkenberg not perturbed by test ban". ITV F1 (ITV Sport). 2009-02-25. http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=45164. Retrieved 2010-11-06. 
10. ^ "2010 Driver Lineup". williamsf1.com (WilliamsF1). 2009-11-02. http://www.williamsf1.com/news/view/1182. Retrieved 2009-11-02. 
11. ^ "Maldonado assina com Williams para 2011, garante Revista Warm Up" (in Portuguese). Grande Prêmio (Internet Group). 19 October 2010. http://esporte.ig.com.br/grandepremio/formula1/2010/10/19/com+r+35+milhoes+maldonado+assina+com+williams+para+2011+revela+revista+warm+up+9749098.html. Retrieved 6 November 2010. 
12. ^ Benson, Andrew (6 November 2010). "Nico Hulkenberg takes Brazilian GP pole for Williams". BBC Sport (Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo: BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9163670.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2010. 
13. ^ "Barrichello Confirmed for 2011". AT&T Williams (Grove, United Kingdom: WilliamsF1). 15 November 2010. http://www.attwilliams.com/news/view/1658. Retrieved 15 November 2010. "The team can also confirm that Nico Hulkenberg will not contest the 2011 FIA World Championship with AT&T Williams." 
14. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (26 January 2011). "Di Resta confirmed at Force India". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89078. Retrieved 26 January 2011. 

External links

• Nicolas Hülkenberg official web page (German and English)
• Nico Hülkenberg career statistics

Sporting positions
Preceded by Sebastian Vettel	German Formula BMW Drivers' Champion 2005	Succeeded by Christian Vietoris
Preceded by Nicolas Lapierre Alexandre Prémat (Team France)	A1 Grand Prix Champion with Christian Vietoris (Team Germany) 2006–07	Succeeded by Neel Jani (Team Switzerland)
Preceded by Paul di Resta	Formula Three Masters Winner 2007	Succeeded by Jules Bianchi
Preceded by Romain Grosjean	Formula Three Euroseries Champion 2008	Succeeded by Jules Bianchi
Preceded by Giorgio Pantano	GP2 Series Champion 2009	Succeeded by Pastor Maldonado

Persondata
Name	Hulkenberg, Nicolas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 August 1987
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death