Explained: Nico Hulkenberg’s under-the-radar drive to fifth in F1 Spanish GP

Nico Hulkenberg delivered Sauber’s best Formula 1 result in three years in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, but his performance went under the radar.

Hulkenberg capitalised on Sauber’s inspired strategy calls to finish just three seconds off the podium in fifth, a remarkable achievement for a driver laden with the slowest car in the 2025 F1 season.

The weekend got off to a rocky start for Hulkenberg as he failed to get out of Q1 in qualifying on Saturday. It was the fifth time in nine race weekends that he was outpaced by his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto over a single lap, and with the Barcelona track known to be notoriously difficult for overtaking, his prospects for Sunday looked rather bleak.

But with the way the race panned out, his Q1 elimination actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Starting 16th on the grid, Hulkenberg made a clean start and used the escape road at Turn 1 to avoid contact, climbing up to 11th by the end of an impressive opening lap.

On the following tour, he drove past the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, propelling his Sauber inside the points.

“There was a car coming sliding across so both Gabi and I had to avoid turn two and avoid some car, I'm not sure who it was,” Hulkenberg explained. “Had a bit of fight with Fernando also, I think for one or two laps, but wrestled him down in the end. That was good.”

Sauber pulled the trigger early on strategy, bringing Hulkenberg in on lap 9 to cover Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who had been running 14th at the time.

In a 66-lap race and on a high-degradation circuit like Barcelona, this would have meant completing the race on a three-stop strategy.

However, the German drove brilliantly in the middle of the race to eke out 36 laps out of his medium tyres, delaying his second pitstop until lap 45. For reference, race winner Oscar Piastri made his two planned pitstops on laps 22 and 49 respectively.

Hulkenberg’s strategy allowed him to avoid losing time getting lapped by the frontrunners and once the second round of pitstops shook out, he was up to ninth place, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Kimi Antonelli’s mechanical-induced retirement removed one driver in front from the equation, while also prompting a safety car intervention.

This is where Hulkenberg’s Q1 exit actually benefitted him, as he had a set of extra soft tyres at his disposal.

With the benefit of fresh rubber, Hulkenberg breezed past the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar at the restart on lap 61, before setting off after seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

With just two out of 66 laps to run, the 37-year-old used the assistance of DRS to overtake Hamilton, creating an unfamiliar sight of a Sauber passing a scarlet red Ferrari.

“He only had a used soft left,” Hulkenberg explained. “That's what you see even though he's in a Ferrari with how important and how powerful the tyres are. He was just sliding around a lot and I had new boots which made all the difference.”

Hulkenberg went on to cross the finish line in sixth place, which became fifth after Verstappen’s 10-second time penalty was applied.

“It was a great race, just one of them races where everything seemed to click and work out,” he explained.

“Beautiful when it happens, doesn't happen that often, unfortunately, but today it did.

“Having all these new tyres, being out in Q1, actually was really useful and helpful today.

“From 16th to have the start in lap one that I had, it kind of immediately reset the race and then put us into the fight for a good result.

“Obviously the late safety car and then having another set of softs did the rest of it. So very happy and obviously we take that. But, you know, that's just if you bring updates and performance that works, you know, you can help yourself.”

Sauber introduced a substantial update package in Barcelona, bringing a new front wing, floor and engine cover.

While it was expected that a new technical directive restricting the amount of front wing flexing would close the field up, Hulkenberg believes the updated C45 was simply more competitive in the Spanish GP.

“To be honest I think it's more the updates,” he said. Maybe it's the technical TD, the flexi wing stuff that others paid more of a price than us because honestly, I feel for us it didn't change that much.

“I don't feel much different in high speed and to be honest high speed so far has been not our strongest point so I tend to believe it is the update.”

Fifth place in Barcelona, with Bortoleto ending up on the cusp of points in 12th, was an incredible result for a team that hasn’t been anywhere close to finishing inside the top 10 since Hulkenberg’s brilliant drive to seventh in the wet conditions in Australia at the very beginning of the season.

The Hinwil based squad last secured a top-five finish at the Emilia Romagna GP in 2022, when it was operating under the Alfa Romeo banner.

“It's obviously a very sweet moment,” said the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner.

“Second time with points this year but only since Melbourne, it's obviously been a bit of a dry patch.

“It's been difficult but I believe it puts us more on the map in the midfield fight. We've found the connection to that train.

“In quali, things are very tight and everything needs to be right, but I feel like in the races hopefully we can be there and push into it and fight with all these other guys more.”