SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Fifteen years, 239 races, one trophy. And it's made of Lego bricks.
Nico Hülkenberg finally made it onto the podium with third place at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. That ended the longest wait in career starts for a driver before claiming a top-three finish in Formula 1 history.
To do this, he had to hold off none other than Lewis Hamilton, so often unbeatable in Britain.
“I was thinking that he’s going to give it all here in front of his home crowd," Hülkenberg said. "And I was like: 'Sorry, guys, but it’s also my day.'”
The trophy Hülkenberg got after his years of waiting was made of Lego bricks as part of a commercial partnership between the company and F1.
Second-place finisher Oscar Piastri asked him how it felt to get a prize “that you can pull apart and probably buy next week.”
“It’s good. My daughter can play with it too. You’ve always got to see the bright side,” Hülkenberg answered. "A bit of silver or gold would have been nice too, but I won’t complain.”
Starting from 19th on the grid, a perfectly judged drive in the rain and smart strategy saw the 37-year-old German outperform his uncompetitive Sauber car as other contenders span off the road.
He showed off his attacking skill by overtaking Lance Stroll for third and then had the toughest test of all, holding off seven-time champion Hamilton, who'd won his home race nine times.
“It’s pretty surreal and to be honest, not sure how it all happened. Obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions. It was a survival fight for a lot of the race,” Hülkenberg said.
He was mobbed by his Sauber team after climbing out of the car and before climbing up to the podium to receive a long-awaited trophy.
Hülkenberg made his F1 debut in 2010. In 2011 and for three years from 2020 through 2022, he was without a full-time race drive at all, except for a few emergency call-ups when other drivers caught COVID-19.
Down the years, he's raced for many teams but never a true contender — Williams, Force India, Sauber, Force India again, Renault, Racing Point, Aston Martin, Haas and Sauber again. His previous best race result was a fourth place in 2013 and another in 2016.
It was the first podium finish for Sauber since Kamui Kobayashi was third at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2012, and the first podium finish for any German driver in F1 since Sebastian Vettel in 2021.
Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda now has the most races of any current driver without a podium at 99, but Hülkenberg still holds the all-time record for most races without a win.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
James Ellingworth, The Associated Press
