No driver wants to start their Grand Prix weekend with a poor qualifying session, but for Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Paired with Sauber’s latest updates at the Spanish Grand Prix, Hulkenberg was able to bring home his first fifth-place finish since 2019.

Upgrades, qualifying helped Nico Hulkenberg in Spain

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

When Nico Hulkenberg was knocked out of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in the very first round, the Sauber driver admitted that “I was pretty upset” — as anyone would be with a P16 start for a race (15th once Lance Stroll withdrew).

Adding insult to injury was the fact that Sauber was one of several teams to bring a slew of upgrades to Barcelona, including tweaks to the floor, the engine cover, and the front wing. Those changes, it seemed, had done little to overcome the performance deficit the team has been facing.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Come the start of the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, Hulkenberg was on fire and, despite a run off the track, found himself in 10th by the end of Lap 1 — with plenty of fresh tyres to spare.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

“[It] was a great race, just one of them races where just everything seemed to click and to work out beautiful when it happens,” Hulkenberg told media, including PlanetF1.com, after the race.

“Doesn’t happen that often, unfortunately, but today it did.”

Naturally, that strong start put Hulkenberg in the fight right from the get-go.

“There was a car coming sliding across,” the Sauber driver explained of the race start.

“So I think Gabby [Gabriel Bortoleto] and I had to avoid Turn 2 and avoid some car. I’m not sure who it was.

“And had a bit of a little fight with Fernando also, I think, for one, two laps, but wrestled him down in the end. It was good start.”

Adding to the joy was that Hulkenberg had not only assumed the position of a much higher-qualified car after the first lap, but that he had an ace up his sleeve.

“Having all these new tyres, being out in Q1, actually was really useful and helpful today,” he said.

“And then, on the other hand, from 16th, to have the start and lap one that I had, you know, kind of immediately reset the race and then put us into the fight for a good result.

“Obviously the late Safety Car, and then having another set of softs did the rest of it so very happy.

“We take that, but, that’s just, if you bring updates and performance that that works, you can help yourself.”

Speaking of the updates, Hulkenberg was complimentary about what the team had done.

“Maybe it’s the technical TD, the flexi-wing stuff, that others paid more of a price than us because honestly, I feel for us, it didn’t change that much,” he mused.

“I don’t feel much different in high speed, and to be honest, high speed so far has been not our strongest point, so I tend to believe it is the update.”

It all combined to send Nico Hulkenberg off to a fifth-place finish — which happens to be his best finish since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, where he matched that fifth-place result.

But for him, it’s still far too early to consider how a strong finish in Spain can impact the rest of the season.

“Just let us take this one, digest it, be happy,” he said when asked about his prospects for the Canadian Grand Prix.

“It’s obviously a very sweet moment. The second time in points this year, but since Melbourne has obviously been a bit of a dry patch. It’s been difficult.

“I believe it puts us more on the map in the midfield fight. We’ve found the connection to that train.

“In quali, things are very tight and everything needs to be right. But I feel like in the races, hopefully we can be there and push into it and fight with all these other guys more.”

He continued, “P5 is, you know — we can only dream of the normal races and circumstances.

“But I think obviously it was a P8 or P9 before the Safety Car, which already would have been really, really good for us.

“Everyone in the factory can be happy that the update delivered.

“It’s what we needed, but we can’t stop here, because nobody stops. We need more of the same.”

With Hulkenberg finishing fifth and Gabriel Bortoleto 12th, it was a strong weekend for the Sauber crew in Spain.

Read next: Spanish GP: Oscar Piastri leads McLaren one-two amid late Verstappen meltdown