“Crazy fast” Nico Hulkenberg’s wait for an F1 podium was unfair

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto credits much of his growth in Formula 1 to Nico Hulkenberg, and believes his elder team-mate did not get “fair” opportunities to showcase his talent behind the wheel.

Over 15 years after his F1 debut with Williams in 2010, Hulkenberg finally scored his first podium in a scintillating wet/dry British Grand Prix – Bortoleto was one of the first on the scene to congratulate him on a “deserved” result.

Hulkenberg has historically delivered strong results in F1 with midfield teams, but a berth on the podium had eluded him; the most notable of those was in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, where a prang with Lewis Hamilton killed off his hopes of a rostrum visit.

There were further opportunities across his second stint Force India, but then-team-mate Sergio Perez captured the instances of podium glory instead Hulkenberg.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Bortoleto reckoned that the German should have been afforded grander opportunities during his time in the championship, and that he hopes his own wait for a podium is considerably shorter.

“He has been in Formula 1 for 15 years. He has struggled to get a career podium first time this year. And I’m all about fairness in my life,” Bortoleto told Beyond the Grid host Tom Clarkson.

“And I never thought that his career was fair because I really thought that Nico could have achieved so much more if he had the right cars and good teams behind him. And I don’t think he did.

“To look at a guy like him, that won Formula 3, won Formula 2 [GP2, as-was], did an amazing job in Formula 1 and not getting a podium, I was like, ‘man, come on, this is not possible. Like, if he doesn’t get a podium, then what?’.

“And then when he got a podium, I was genuinely happy because I really believed that he deserved it. It must be tough for him, even if he doesn’t say it, after 15 years trying not getting a podium.

“At some point you even say, ‘I don’t care about this and I will just do my job’. But yeah, it must be tough. Hopefully I will achieve my one as soon as possible.”

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Bortoleto has tried to learn from his team-mate as much as possible, to which Hulkenberg has been receptive; Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has stated on numerous occasions that their driving partnership is one of the most collaborative he’s ever seen in his time in F1.

Speaking about Hulkenberg’s abilities, Bortoleto added that he had immediately noticed a “precise” and “quick” approach – and that his approach in races is often underrated.

“He’s crazy fast. He pushes me a lot; I wouldn’t be at the level I am in my qualifying and in my racing right now if it was not Nico probably pushing that much.

“I’ve been learning from him, I’ve been studying him, I’ve been analysing data and working on myself and yeah, it’s been working out very well, I would say. It has been a great season so far.

“He’s precise, he’s quick, he doesn’t make many mistakes in his lap. His lap looks like it’s very much in the limit, but he is able also when he makes mistakes to keep the car inside the track and not lose a lot of lap time.

“And this is not easy with Formula 1 cars, you know, so that’s impressive about him. He is the fastest teammate I’ve ever had, probably.

“It’s not that you wake up one day and you are quick and I feel like Nico has been, well, look at him, he did pole in his rookie season in Brazil.

“He has been always a great qualifier and a racer as well, but we always say qualifier because that’s where he stands out a lot.

“And this doesn’t take out the qualities that he has in the racing side as well, that is quite a lot of them. It’s just nice to be able to be, you know, fighting and to be in the level I am right now and to be fighting with a guy that is so quick like this.”