Formula 1 has witnessed many drivers fail to live up to expectations once on the grid but Nico Rosberg finds it ‘unbelievable’ that one of the Class of 2024 is in that group.
Jean Alesi is arguably one of the most iconic names in the unwanted category of drivers who would not fulfil the expectations placed on them before racing in Formula 1. The Frenchman enjoyed 13 seasons on the grid and entered 202 Grand Prix, yet Alesi only won a single race.
Alesi also claimed his only race win in his final season for Ferrari at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix after five years with the Scuderia. He then spent two seasons at Benetton in an effective seat swap with Michael Schumacher. But Alesi had the ability to achieve more success in F1.
Nico Rosberg stunned Nico Hulkenberg has never finished on a Formula 1 podium
The 2016 Formula 1 drivers’ champion, Rosberg, believes one of the Class of 2024 also has a lot more talent than their results in the pinnacle of motorsport have shown. Rosberg finds it incredible that Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg has never stood on a podium after 229 F1 races.
Hulkenberg has entered his 230th Formula 1 event at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and he has started 226 of the 37-year-old’s previous race entries. Yet he has not finished a race in the top three, with Hulkenberg’s best finish fourth place – a place he has sealed three times.
READ MORE: Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
Rosberg has been a huge believer in Hulkenberg’s ability all throughout the German’s racing career, not just in F1. Yet while Rosberg rates his compatriot as one of the best qualifiers – a trait Hulkenberg has again shown in 2024 at Haas– he has not achieved what was expected.
“Unbelievable that Nico Hulkenberg has never been on the podium,” Rosberg stated on Sky Sports F1 (07/12, 10:49). “He was the biggest talent coming up in Formula 3, Formula 2 and showed glimpses of [his] absolute genius in Formula 1.
“But somehow [he] never lived up to that expectation, apart from again this year where he really seems to be so special out there, maximising the car all the time.
“Really, in qualifying, you would say he’s one of the best qualifiers from the whole grid this year, just amazing to watch.”
Nico Hulkenberg holds the record for the most F1 races without a podium finish
Hulkenberg has thrice finished in fourth place through his 226 Grand Prix starts so far ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP. He first finished just off the podium places whilst racing for Force India in the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix when Hulkenberg was only 2.509s from Kimi Raikkonen.
The German has also narrowly missed out on his first rostrum with Sauber. Hulkenberg, who will return to Sauber in 2025 ahead of the team becoming Audi in 2026, finished fourth with the Swiss squad in the 2013 Korean Grand Prix but he came home 19.187s from the podium.
It then took Hulkenberg until the 2016 Belgian GP and after returning to Force India to claim his third and so far last fourth-place finish. But the biggest near-misses of his F1 career were not when he finished fourth but rather when Hulkenberg wasted opportunities to win races.
Hulkenberg even has the record for the most races without a podium, with almost twice the total of Adrian Sutil (128) in second place. But it may have been very different if Hulkenberg did not crash out of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012 having led the race in mixed conditions.
Leave feedback about this