Guess the grid: Nico Hulkenberg’s F1 race debut in 2010

To celebrate Nico Hulkenberg turning 37 today, we are testing how much you can remember about his F1 debut way back in 2010.

The German is one of Formula 1’s veteran drivers having first raced 14 years ago and although he has had some time away, his imminent move to Sauber has guaranteed him a spot for years to come.

Guess the grid: Nico Hulkenberg’s F1 race debut in 2010

Hulkenberg, nicknamed Hulk, is enjoying an Indian summer having returned to the sport in 2023 and his form with Haas has seen him become the first confirmed driver to race with Audi in 2026.

Today, August 19, marks his 37th birthday and we are seeing how much you can remember about his race debut way back in 2010.

Hulkenberg first tasted life in F1 at Bahrain in the cockpit of the Williams and would go on to finish that season a respectable 14th including one pole position, which remains the only one of his career.

But going back to the season opener, can you remember the finishing order of his first race?

Who is Nico Hulkenberg?

Nico Hulkenberg is the unfortunate holder of some of the most unwanted records in Formula 1.

The German is a vastly experienced and capable racer but unfortunately, he has never been able to translate his talent into tangible success.

Therefore, he is often swiftly associated with a couple of less-than-desirable stats that qualify him as something of a ‘nearly’ man.

If you were to scroll through various statistical charts, you would find Hulkenberg sitting not so proudly at the top of some and very high up in others.

For instance, his tally of the 217 F1 starts from 2010 to present have failed to yield a podium finish. That total is more than 50 ahead of anyone else in history and none of the current crop of drivers are even close to half of Hulkenberg’s number.

He also has the most points without a win but even though these are not entries a driver would want on his CV, it does not mean they are without positives either.

Hulkenberg took what could be perceived as the most traditional route to Formula 1, winning the secondary GP2 Series for the ART Grand Prix team in 2009 at the age of 22.

He had tested an F1 car for Williams two years earlier and had become their reserve driver in his GP2 title-winning campaign, so it looked a natural step when the Grove team took him on for a race seat in 2010 alongside fellow new recruit Rubens Barrichello. Nico Rosberg had moved on to Mercedes and Kazuki Nakajima was dropped.

Although Hulkenberg was outscored 47-22 by his much more experienced Brazilian colleague, there was one notable highlight for him – he achieved his first, and so far only, pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix on a damp circuit.

Unfortunately, he could not capitalise upon it in the race, losing the lead immediately to eventual winner Sebastian Vettel and falling back to finish eighth, a lap down.

That proved to be Hulkenberg’s one and only season with Williams because they brought in the well-funded Pastor Maldonado to replace him, so he took on a test and reserve driver role with Force India for 2011 before being promoted to a race seat in 2012 to succeed compatriot Adrian Sutil.

In that year, ‘The Hulk’ achieved his highest race placing of fourth for the first time, in the Belgian Grand Prix.

As had been the case at Williams, he was on the move again after one racing season, but this time there was a seat waiting at Sauber where he took over from Kamui Kobayashi and secured another P4 finish in Korea.

Yet again, now for the third time in a nomadic F1 career thus far, Hulkenberg upped sticks again for 2013 – back to whence he came, namely Force India, and this time it became a more settled stay.

He completed three seasons alongside Sergio Perez and was a consistent performer in the upper midfield, although his most productive spell was at the start of 2014 when he finished in the top six in six of the first seven races.

In the second half of 2016, Hulkenberg finished fourth in Belgium again – and just six weeks later it was announced he was off to join Renault for the following season.

Just like in his second Force India spell, it became a three-year stint with the French team.

The first of those was the least productive, alongside Jolyon Palmer who was replaced towards the end of the season by Carlos Sainz – and the German-Spanish duo were a much more potent force in 2018.

Again, Hulkenberg was a regular in the top six and achieved his highest ever Drivers’ World Championship placing of seventh, although his points total of 69 for that year was some way adrift of his highest with Force India.

Sainz moved on to McLaren and in came Daniel Ricciardo at Renault for 2019, which turned out to be Hulkenberg’s last full campaign before a few years off the grid.

He had to make way for Esteban Ocon in 2020 and made a return to his old Silverstone-based employers, now titled Racing Point, as a reserve driver.

That was the year seriously affected by the pandemic and unfortunately both Racing Point drivers – Perez and Lance Stroll – contracted Covid-19, which gave Hulkenberg opportunities to deputise for them in three grands prix at Silverstone and Nurburgring.

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Showing no signs of rust, he remarkably qualified third for the second Silverstone race, the weekend after his car had agonisingly failed to fire up in the garage for the British Grand Prix. Hulkenberg scored points in both races he was able to start that year.

Although 2021 produced no racing action for him as reserve driver for the team’s transformation into Aston Martin, Hulkenberg was straight back on the grid at the start of the 2022 campaign.

This time, it was his fellow countryman Vettel who was hit by Covid-19 and therefore the four-time former World Champion had to miss the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

It was the start of the new era of technical regulations and Aston Martin made a slower start than they had hoped for, Hulkenberg able to complete the first two grands prix but only in 17th and 12th positions respectively.

Unlike some drivers, Hulkenberg has not been tempted to seek opportunities in other series and his most recent competitive outing outside of F1 was when he tackled the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015 for the only time – and won it.

After a few seasons as a reserve driver, Hulkenberg made his way back onto the grid for the 2023 season when he was signed as a Haas driver replacing the outgoing Mick Schumacher.

Although he managed just one top-ten in a Grand Prix, P7 in Australia, and one in a Sprint, eighth in Austria, it was clear that Hulkenberg was out-performing the car at least in qualifying. Alas Haas’ tyres problems let both the German and Kevin Magnussen down over longer distances.

But still emerging as Haas’ star driver in his first season back on the grid, Hulkenberg continued with the Ferrari-powered team in 2024.

Try another quiz: F1 quiz: Can you name the top 20 youngest F1 points scorers?