Nico Hülkenberg & Audi - Fashioning the Future of Formula 1
Image credit: Audi F1 Media Centre
Last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix saw the final race in the first of three triple headers that will conclude the 2026 Formula 1 Season. While a lot of the focus is understandably on when, rather than if, Kimi Antonelli becomes World Champion as well as the resurgence of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, there is another story quietly developing towards the back of the midfield. Nico Hülkenberg and Audi lie at the heart of this and the Singapore Grand Prix perfectly demonstrated why.
It’s been over four years since Audi announced that they would be joining Formula 1. Taking over the outfit formerly known as Sauber, they made their official debut at this year’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Since then, a lot has happened. Gabriel Bortoelo scored the team’s maiden points in Formula 1 in their very first outing by finishing in ninth place while Nico Hülkenberg was unable to start the race due to technical issues with the car. Bortoleto would suffer the same fate at the very next Grand Prix in China. It then wouldn’t be until Silverstone that Audi scored points again, when Bortoleto finished in a respectable eighth place. Prior to then, both he and Hülkenberg had danced around the fringes of the points but to no avail. Of the five races that Hülkenberg finished in the run up to Silverstone, he never finished lower than thirteenth - always in a prime position to capitalise on opportunities should any have arisen. Hülkenberg contested in three other Grand Prix during that time but was forced to retire from them due to a range of technical reasons, including gearbox failure and the car overheating.
Image credit: Audi F1 Media Centre
Bortoleto suffered from a gearbox failure at the Singapore Grand Prix in what was somehow only his first DNF of the season. For a brand new team to enter the pinnacle of motorsport in a year that sees the sport embrace a brand new regulation set that dramatically changes the sport arguably more than any in decades, to only have four Grand Prix retirements (six if you factor in their failure to start one of their cars in both Australia and China) is quite remarkable - particularly when you take into consideration the performances of both more established and more experienced teams such as Williams and Aston Martin who in theory, should automatically be outperforming them.
Thirteenth place remains Nico Hülkenberg’s lowest finishing position for a Grand Prix so far this season and since the Hungarian Grand Prix just before the summer break, he has been on a good run of results, finishing in the points in four of the last seven Grand Prix. The German driver currently sits in fourteenth place overall in the Championship, three points ahead of teammate Bortoleto. He’s just ten points behind the Haas driver of Ollie Bearman and fifteen points away from Alpine’s Franco Colapinto - a driver who’s had double the number of points finishes than Hülkenberg in a much more competitive car across both qualifying and Grand Prix.
Image credit: Audi F1 Media Centre
With a potential of six Grand Prix remaining this season, it’s not outlandish to think that Hülkenberg could accrue more points than both of these drivers ahead of him. Having joined the sport with Williams back in 2010, Hülkenberg is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid with two-hundred-and-sixty-six Grand Prix starts to his name. Having driven for the likes of Force India, Renault, Aston Martin and Haas, Hülkenberg knows how to maximise the performance from an underwhelming car and how to grab opportunities when they appear. Just look at his pole position for Williams at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, his three race stand in stint for Racing Point in 2020 and his maiden podium finish for Sauber in the 2025 British Grand Prix as the most obvious examples of this.
A safe pair of hands, Hülkenberg is also a fierce competitor and a highly skilled driver - he’s just never really had either the equipment or the support necessary to fully demonstrate what he’s capable of. Barring the two Grand Prix at the opening of the 2022 season where he had to stand in for an injured Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, Hülkenberg has scored points in every single season that he’s competed in in Formula 1. He’s finished as high as seventh overall back in 2018, ahead of drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez and in 2014, scored points in all but four races with seven top six finishes.
Image credit: Audi F1 Media Centre
It becomes less of a wonder then as to why Audi wanted to retain him when they took over Sauber and why they are set to continue with him as one of their drivers in 2027. Behind the scenes, he’s been able to get embedded with the team as early as his move over to Sauber from Haas in 2025 with much of the personnel retained when Audi joined the sport. Those relationships and dynamics are key to a team’s success and this is another way that The Hulk’s vast experience and knowledge base can come in handy. For Bortoleto too, in only his second season of Formula 1, Hülkenberg is able to be an invaluable mentor and guide while also having someone young, fast and more than capable to keep him on his toes from one weekend to the next.
“Persistence pays off. Hard work but we’re in the mix.”
Just seven points now stand between Audi and Haas in the Constructor’s Standings. While Alpine are a further thirty-eight points up the road and look slightly out of reach, Audi could definitely close that gap significantly at the very least by the end of the season. Even if they don’t move past Haas by the end of the year, 2026 will still have been a success for the team. Williams, Aston Martin and Cadillac will all likely remain in their rear view mirrors and Haas - a team with over a decades worth of experience in the sport - will be within reach if not also behind them. For a team like Audi that has lofty ambitions for the next few years in terms of what being competitive looks like to them, this year is proving to be a very solid foundation - and Nico Hülkenberg is key to that.
Image credit: Audi F1 Media Centre
Audi’s problems have been their own too this season. Not one of their DNFs in the Grand Prix have been caused by a collision. In the Sprint Races, more technical issues have arisen but Bortoleto’s run in with Valtteri Bottas in Singapore remains the sole on track collision that either driver has had so far this season - that’s impressive too in its own way. Once their reliability issues are more in hand and the car developments keep coming, Audi looks set to be a quiet threat as Formula 1 heads into the 2027 season and beyond. With the best part of two decades worth of experience, Nico Hülkenberg could finally be with the right team at the right time to reward his persistent effort and capabilities. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see something special from the duo of Nico Hülkenberg and Audi in the not too distant future. Formula 1 would be all the richer for it.