Nico Hulkenberg says Sauber’s F1 2025 chassis has “a major problem” in the dirty air of other cars, admitting “survival” is his priority in situations like race starts.

It comes after the future Audi F1 star suffered his third F1 disqualification at Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg hit with Bahrain GP DSQ

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Hulkenberg has enjoyed an encouraging start to life at Sauber following his move from midfield rivals Haas over the winter, scoring points on debut for his new team at last month’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The veteran’s seventh place in Melbourne meant Sauber scored more points – six – in the first race of the F1 2025 season than the Swiss team claimed in the entire 2024 campaign.

Hulkenberg suffered a setback in Bahrain on Sunday when he was disqualified after the race for excessive skid-block wear, just weeks after Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton was excluded for the same offence in China.

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It marked the third disqualification of Hulkenberg’s stint in F1, having also been hit with DSQs at Japan 2019 and Brazil 2024.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, before his exclusion was made official, Hulkenberg admitted that the Sakhir circuit exposed the car’s flaws after finishing 15th on the road.

And he revealed that the Sauber struggles badly in the wake of other cars, making for a wild ride during race starts and Safety Car restarts.

Hulkenberg said: “It’s a track that really brings out car weaknesses.

“It’s such a balanced track [in terms of corner profile] and conditions are very tough, very hard on the tyres.

“So whilst obviously we didn’t get anything, still I think some interesting lessons and learnings for us there for the future.”

Asked if he has a steer on Sauber’s ‘reality’ with four races of the new season completed, he replied: “I don’t know, to be honest.

“At Suzuka, it didn’t feel that bad but we were in traffic all race, so it’s difficult to make any sort of good judgment.

“Here, again, I was a bit offset from everyone else in the race, but we suffer a lot in traffic, which is obviously a major problem when it comes to Lap 1 and Safety Car restarts.

“It gets quite entertaining in the car and survival [is the priority]!”

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Asked if its sensitivity to dirty air is a characteristic of the car, he added: “Potentially. Maybe.

“I think every race car doesn’t like dirty air, obviously. It’s going to lose [downforce].

“But I think there’s obviously different levels of how much you lose and also the proportions between front and rear, so it’s a bit more complex than that.

“I think this was a tough circuit for us.”

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