The 2025 Formula 1 season will see Nico Hulkenberg embark on the next chapter of his racing career within the series.
Nico Hulkenberg made his F1 debut in 2010 with Sauber and 15 years later, he’ll be returning to the Swiss team.
In that time, he’s gone on to race in Formula on more than 225 occasions, but famously, has yet to stand on the podium.
His single pole position came in his debut campaign, while his last fastest lap was achieved back in 2016.
However, after a three-year absence without a permanent race seat, Hulkenberg showed at Haas that he’s only getting faster.
Hulkenberg has previously been courted by Red Bull which shouldn’t come as a surprise given his talent.
He’s never been given a front-running car and that’s unlikely to change next year at Sauber until they become the Audi works team in 2026.
That coincides with a new generation of Formula 1 cars being introduced and in an interview with Motorsport Total, Hulkenberg has explained why that might give him an advantage.
Nico Hulkenberg thinks he and Max Verstappen can adapt to any generation of F1 car
Hulkenberg was asked about this era of Formula 1 cars and in particular the struggles that Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel have all had.
The German was asked if the cars suit him better and he explained: “No, I don’t see it that way.
“I think it always has more to do with how you feel as a driver, how you feel and how your confidence or self-confidence is.
“At the end of the day, it’s the feeling you have or don’t have in the car, and if you’re missing one per cent, then there’s a problem straight away. Then there’s a lack of lap time and you can see it on the stopwatch.
“But, I don’t know, there are examples where you can apply that.
“But there are also examples like Max, who, no matter what generation of car, performs in every circumstance and under every set of regulations. I felt the same.
READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
“Of course, I’ve had my ups and downs, even with the old cars, and I didn’t come out so well with Renault. But that was due to other circumstances, as I said, it was more about feeling and where you are.
“I think the rules and the cars change every five or six years. So as a driver, you actually have to be able to adapt and relearn.
“Otherwise, if you are only good in one car and don’t develop, don’t adapt, then you would have a relatively short life expectancy here in Formula 1. So I don’t think that [is] such an argument.”
How Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have performed in this generation of Formula 1 cars
While Hulkenberg has thrived this year, it hasn’t been as easy for Verstappen with Red Bull losing their advantage over their rivals.
Helmut Marko has admitted Verstappen struggled this year, but not enough to miss out on winning a fourth consecutive championship.
Verstappen made changes to his Red Bull the factory were unaware of at his home race in the Netherlands to try and fix some of the issues he faced.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
Hamilton, on the other hand, hasn’t hidden his recent difficulties, particularly in qualifying.
Mercedes have a theory about Hamilton’s qualifying issues, but that’s not their problem any more heading into 2025.
Instead, he’ll hope that Ferrari’s latest car will help address some of his concerns, although in Charles Leclerc, he’s coming up against arguably the best qualifier on the grid.
For Hulkenberg, he’ll be aiding Sauber – alongside rookie Gabriel Bortoleto – in trying to iron out the issues that saw them finish bottom of the Constructors’ Championship in 2024.
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