Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg is preparing for another Formula 1 season after the eighth team change of his career.
Hulkenberg has spent time at Williams, Force India, Sauber, back to Force India, Renault, Racing Point and Aston Martin as a stand-in driver, Haas and finally back to Sauber again.
All-in-all, the German driver has started 227 Grand Prix since the beginning of the 2010 season but is still searching for that elusive first podium.
He’s not started on pole position since his debut season, and Hulkenberg thinks he might be this season Rubens Barrichello who was his teammate during that maiden campaign.
It’s hard to see Hulkenberg changing any of those stats at Sauber this year.
The Swiss team finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship in 2024 and unless they’ve invested a huge amount of time and money over the winter in their new car, that’s unlikely to change.
With Formula 1’s new 2026 regulations just around the corner, it would be hard to justify that decision.
It means that Hulkenberg and new teammate Gabriel Bortoleto will have to make do with racing each other and whichever teams also switch focus to next year sooner rather than later.
Bortoleto is 17 years younger than Hulkenberg and from a completely different generation of racing drivers.
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Hulkenberg has admitted that he’s not a fan of one training aid that Max Verstappen, Bortoleto and many other younger drivers use.
Nico Hulkenberg admits he’s not a fan of sim racing to improve his F1 racing instincts
It was put to Hulkenberg that many young drivers have simulators at home and that Verstappen in particular loves taking part in sim races in his spare time.
When asked if it’s something that he does as well, the 37-year-old said: “I don’t have a simulator and I don’t race online.
“That’s why I can’t say what it brings or what you miss. With Max, it’s not something he forces himself to do.
“He enjoys it, he’s interested in it and he thinks it’s good for him. That’s why he does it.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen explains what the ‘biggest difference’ between sim racing and Formula 1
“He’s a different type, a different generation. I have no desire to sit in one of these things at home and race.
“I tried it once, but I didn’t really warm to it.”
Nico Hulkenberg recalls which 2024 F1 race he would have scrapped after making an ‘unnecessary mistake’
Verstappen has previously explained how sim racing helps him in F1, saying in an interview with the Washington Post: “I’m constantly learning and adapting to what I need to do in each car to go as quick as possible.
“At the end of the day, that helps you when you go back to Formula 1, because you have all of this experience in the back of your mind.”
Hulkenberg is one of F1’s most experienced drivers and his breaks from the sport to race in other series like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship will also be helping him.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
Last year was brilliant for the German, narrowly missing out on a top-10 finish of the Drivers’ Championship with Haas, but when asked about which race he wished didn’t happen in 2024, he said: “Qualifying in Qatar didn’t go well.
“I got in my own way with an unnecessary mistake that cost me a lot on Sunday. We had the speed there to score points.
“Baku hurt me too. I actually drove a very good race on one of my most difficult tracks, and then two laps before the end a small mistake crept in with a big impact.
“Both were very annoying, but in such a tight midfield over such a long season everyone makes mistakes.”
Hulkenberg will be hoping that he can return to the points with Sauber in 2025, although that proved nearly impossible for the Swiss team last season.
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