.

Nico Hülkenberg

Wikicars, a place to share your automotive knowledge
Revision as of 05:31, 14 July 2010 by KangarooKyle (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigationJump to search
Nico Hülkenberg
Template:Country flagicon German
Formula One World Championship Career
Active years not applicable
Team(s) not applicable
Grands Prix 8
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Career Points 1
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First Grand Prix 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
First win
Last win
Last Grand Prix 2010 British Grand Prix

Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg (born 19 August 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein, West Germany) is a German professional racing driver, racing in Formula One for Williams. He is the incumbent champion of the GP2 Series, and is a previous champion of both the Formula Three Euroseries and A1 Grand Prix, as part of A1 Team Germany. He has the distinction of being only the second driver after Lewis Hamilton to win the GP2 series championship in his maiden season.

Career

Early Career

Hülkenberg made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he was German Junior Karting Champion and the following year he won the German Kart Championship.<ref name="meethulkenberg"> Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref>

Hülkenberg is currently managed by Willi Weber, the long-time manager of Michael Schumacher. Weber has gone on record saying that Hülkenberg would be ready for Formula One by 2008. He has also praised Hülkenberg as an "unbelievable talent" and says he reminds him of Schumacher as a young driver. He also stated that he nicknamed him "The Hulk", after the fictional superhero, in reference to Hülkenberg changing his personality whilst at the wheel. <ref name = "hulkenberg-weber">Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref>

Formula BMW (2005)

2005 saw his debut in German Formula BMW. His first season was a very successful one, with Hülkenberg dominating the championship and winning the title comfortably. He finished first in the Formula BMW world final but was stripped of the win after it was claimed he had brake-tested his rivals during a safety car period.<ref name="meethulkenberg" />

A1 Grand Prix (2006–07)

He also joined the German A1 Grand Prix team for the 2006–07 season. Nine wins in his rookie season made him the most successful driver in A1GP history. It meant he almost single-handedly won Germany the championship with 128 points, 35 more than Team New Zealand.<ref name="meethulkenberg" />

Formula Three (2006–08)

Hülkenberg finished fifth in the German Formula Three Championship (ATS Formel 3 Cup) in 2006. For 2007 he switched to the Formula Three Euroseries with the ASM team that had taken Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to the last two championships. His first win came at the Norisring<ref name="meethulkenberg" /> from 18th on the grid, he won again in the rain at Zandvoort<ref name="mmhulkzandvoort"> Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref> and added a third at the Nürburgring.<ref name="mmhulknurburgring"> Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref> But he ran into trouble at Magny-Cours, being penalised in qualifying for passing the chequered flag twice, and crashing into Filip Salaquarda in the race.<ref name="meethulkenberg" />

He won the (non-championship) Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder from team mate (and F3 Euroseries championship leader) Romain Grosjean after the Swiss stalled at the start.<ref name="mmhulkmasters"> Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref>

Hülkenberg won the Formula Three Euroseries championship in 2008. Almost unbeatable on a Saturday, Hülkenberg amassed 76 of his total of 85 points during the feature races run that day, taking seven wins in the progress.

GP2 Series (2009)

He made his GP2 Asia Series début for the ART Grand Prix team at the third round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season in Bahrain, where he took pole position at his first attempt.<ref>{{#if: Hulkenberg takes pole on GP2 debut

 |{{#if: 
   | {{#if: 
     | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}]]
     | {{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 
   | {{#if:  | , {{{coauthors}}} }}. 
 }}{{#if: |“|"}}{{#if: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72942
  | Hulkenberg takes pole on GP2 debut 
  | Hulkenberg takes pole on GP2 debut
 }}{{#if: |”|"}}{{#if:  |  ({{{format}}}) 
   }}{{#if: 
   | , {{{work}}}}}{{#if: autosport.com
   | , autosport.com
 }}{{#if: 2009-01-22
   | , 2009-01-22
 }}{{#if: 
   | , pp. {{{pages}}}
   |{{#if: 
     | , p. {{{page}}}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 2009-01-22  
 | . Retrieved on 2009-01-22
 }}.{{#if: 
 |  (in )
 }}{{ #if: 
   |  “{{{quote}}}”
 }}|Template error: argument title is required.}}</ref> He finished both races in fourth place and this left him in seventh place in the championship. His second race weekend in Qatar, saw him become the first night race pole-sitter, and promptly turned that into becoming the first race-winner under lights after a dominant performance. Such was his performance that he ended up over thirteen seconds clear of second-placed driver Sergio Pérez.<ref>{{#if: Hulkenberg storms to Qatar victory
 |{{#if: 
   | {{#if: 
     | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}]]
     | {{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 
   | {{#if:  | , {{{coauthors}}} }}. 
 }}{{#if: |“|"}}{{#if: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73272
  | Hulkenberg storms to Qatar victory 
  | Hulkenberg storms to Qatar victory
 }}{{#if: |”|"}}{{#if:  |  ({{{format}}}) 
   }}{{#if: 
   | , {{{work}}}}}{{#if: autosport.com
   | , autosport.com
 }}{{#if: 2009-02-13
   | , 2009-02-13
 }}{{#if: 
   | , pp. {{{pages}}}
   |{{#if: 
     | , p. {{{page}}}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 2009-02-13  
 | . Retrieved on 2009-02-13
 }}.{{#if: 
 |  (in )
 }}{{ #if: 
   |  “{{{quote}}}”
 }}|Template error: argument title is required.}}</ref> He finished third in the sprint race, taking his championship points tally to 27 from just four races. Despite this, he finished sixth in the championship.

Hülkenberg continued with ART into the 2009 GP2 Series season, and took his first win in dominant fashion, during his home round of the series at the Nürburgring. With the series' top eight inverted grid, Hülkenberg started eighth for the sprint race. He won the sprint race as well, becoming the first driver to do the weekend double since Giorgio Pantano at Monza in the 2006 season. In doing so, he became only the second driver to complete the clean sweep, with pole position, two fastest laps and two wins; equalling the achievements of Nelson Piquet, Jr., who achieved it at the Hungaroring, also in 2006. Hülkenberg clinched the title with two races to spare, after a third place finish in the Monza sprint race, shadowing Brazilians Luiz Razia and Lucas di Grassi home. The result left him with an unassailable 22-point lead heading to the final round, and in the process becoming the first driver to clinch the championship without the need for a final round decider. A fifth win followed at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, allowing the German to break the 100-point barrier, and eventually won the title by 25 points from Vitaly Petrov.

Formula One

Hülkenberg completed a Formula One test in 2007. Willi Weber confirmed that he was in contact with Renault boss Flavio Briatore about organising a first F1 test for the young German, but he finally got his chance to test for an F1 team on 4 December 2007; when he was given a seat by WilliamsF1 at Jerez. The two-day test went well, outpacing official driver Kazuki Nakajima on the first day, and only 0.4 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg. His flawless performance in the test impressed the WilliamsF1 team and secured himself a test driver seat in the team for 2008.<ref name = "Williams sign Hulkenberg as test driver"> Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}}</ref> In late 2008, Williams offered Hülkenberg to continue his testing contract for the 2009 F1 season.<ref>http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=45164</ref>

Hülkenberg's manager Willi Weber has stated that he wants Scuderia Ferrari to sign Hülkenberg in three years time. Hülkenberg was linked to the vacant seat at Ferrari after Luca Badoer's unimpressive performances during the 2009 European and Belgian Grands Prix after filling in for the injured Felipe Massa but Ferrari chose Giancarlo Fisichella.

Williams (2010)

On 2 November 2009, Hülkenberg was confirmed to race for WilliamsF1 in 2010.<ref>{{#if: 2010 Driver Lineup

 |{{#if: 
   | {{#if: 
     | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}]]
     | {{#if: 
       | {{{last}}}{{#if:  | , {{{first}}} }}
       | {{{author}}}
     }}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 
   | {{#if:  | , {{{coauthors}}} }}. 
 }}{{#if: |“|"}}{{#if: http://www.williamsf1.com/news/view/1182
  | 2010 Driver Lineup 
  | 2010 Driver Lineup
 }}{{#if: |”|"}}{{#if:  |  ({{{format}}}) 
   }}{{#if: williamsf1.com
   | , williamsf1.com}}{{#if: WilliamsF1
   | , WilliamsF1
 }}{{#if: 2009-11-02
   | , 2009-11-02
 }}{{#if: 
   | , pp. {{{pages}}}
   |{{#if: 
     | , p. {{{page}}}
   }}
 }}{{#if: 2009-11-02  
 | . Retrieved on 2009-11-02
 }}.{{#if: 
 |  (in )
 }}{{ #if: 
   |  “{{{quote}}}”
 }}|Template error: argument title is required.}}</ref> Hülkenberg's team-mate for his first season will be Rubens Barrichello, who is moving from Brawn GP. 

Hülkenberg made his debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, recovering from an early spin to finish in fourteenth position. At the second round in Australia, he was involved in a first-lap incident with Kamui Kobayashi, after the Japanese driver's front wing failed and sent him into the barrier, rebounding into the path of Hülkenberg. At the third round in Malaysia, Hülkenberg made it to Q3 for the first time, qualifying in fifth place; out-qualifying team-mate Barrichello for the first time. Hülkenberg looked set to finish eleventh in the race until Fernando Alonso blew his engine three laps from the end, thus promoting Hülkenberg to tenth place and with the new-for-2010 points system, Hülkenberg along with Jaime Alguersuari scored their first points in Formula One.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Formula BMW ADAC Josef Kaufmann Racing 20 8 9 6 14 287 1st
Formula BMW World Final 1 0 0 1 1 N/A 3rd
2006 German Formula Three Josef Kaufmann Racing 18 1 3 5 6 78 5th
V de V Challenge Endurance Moderne Griffith's 2 1 2 ? 1 50 17th
2006–07 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Germany 20 9 3 5 14 128 1st
2007 Formula Three Euroseries ASM Formule 3 20 4 2 3 8 72 3rd
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 23rd
Masters of Formula 3 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
2008 Formula Three Euroseries ART Grand Prix 20 7 6 7 8 87 1st
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 1 0 1 N/A 2nd
2008–09 GP2 Asia Series ART Grand Prix 4 1 2 0 2 27 6th
2009 GP2 Series ART Grand Prix 20 5 3 5 10 100 1st
2010 Formula One WilliamsF1 8 0 0 0 0 1* 17th*

Template:Sup Season in progress.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2006–07 Germany NED
SPR

4
NED
FEA

1
CZE
SPR

Ret
CZE
FEA

4
BEI
SPR

5
BEI
FEA

Ret
MYS
SPR

2
MYS
FEA

1
IDN
SPR

5
IDN
FEA

2
NZL
SPR

1
NZL
FEA

1
AUS
SPR

1
AUS
FEA

1
RSA
SPR

1
RSA
FEA

1
MEX
SPR

MEX
FEA

SHA
SPR

3
SHA
FEA

3
GBR
SPR

2
GBR
SPR

1
1st 128

Complete Formula Three Euroseries results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2007 ART Grand Prix Dallara F305/021 Mercedes HOC1
1

2
HOC1
2

7
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

6
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

1
MAG
1

Ret
MAG
2

14
MUG
1

21
MUG
2

14
ZAN
1

6
ZAN
2

1
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

4
CAT
1

2
CAT
2

8
NOG
1

3
NOG
2

3
HOC2
1

1
HOC2
2

7
3rd 72
2008 ART Grand Prix Dallara F308/009 Mercedes HOC1
1

Ret
HOC1
2

Ret
MUG
1

1
MUG
2

5
PAU
1

Ret
PAU
2

16
NOR
1

1
NOR
2

Ret
ZAN
1

1
ZAN
2

13
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

4
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

5
CAT
1

1
CAT
2

Ret
LMS
1

24
LMS
2

8
HOC2
1

1
HOC2
2

3
1st 87

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2009 ART Grand Prix ESP
FEA

9
ESP
SPR

14
MON
FEA

5
MON
SPR

3
TUR
FEA

5
TUR
SPR

4
GBR
FEA

3
GBR
SPR

5
GER
FEA

1
GER
SPR

1
HUN
FEA

1
HUN
SPR

7
VAL
FEA

2
VAL
SPR

1
BEL
FEA

2
BEL
SPR

Ret
ITA
FEA

6
ITA
SPR

3
POR
FEA

1
POR
SPR

16
1st 100

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2008–09 ART Grand Prix CHN
FEA
CHN
SPR
DUB
FEA
DUB
SPR
BHR1
FEA

4
BHR1
SPR

4
QAT
FEA

1
QAT
SPR

3
MYS
FEA

MYS
SPR

BHR2
FEA

BHR2
SPR

6th 27

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2010 AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 BHR
14
AUS
Ret
MAL
10
CHN
15
ESP
16
MON
Ret
TUR
17
CAN
13
EUR
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
SIN
JPN
KOR
BRA
ABU
17th* 1*

Template:Sup Season in progress.

See Also

Constructors and drivers competing in the 2010 Formula One championship
McLaren Mercedes Red Bull Ferrari Williams Renault Force India Toro Rosso Lotus Campos US F1 Virgin Sauber
1 Button
2 Hamilton
3 Schumacher
4 Rosberg
5 Vettel
6 Webber
7 Massa
8 Alonso
9 Barrichello
10 Hülkenberg
11 Kubica
12 Petrov
14 Sutil
15 Liuzzi
16 Buemi
17 Alguersuari
18 Trulli
19 Kovalainen
20 TBA
21 Senna
22 López
23 TBA
24 Glock
25 di Grassi
de la Rosa
Kobayashi
Other drivers who have participated in the 2010 season: •

Template:Williams Template:F3 Euroseries champions

External links

Commonscat.jpg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Preceded by:
Sebastian Vettel
German Formula BMW
Drivers' Champion

2005
Succeeded by:
Christian Vietoris
Preceded by:
Nicolas Lapierre
Alexandre Prémat
(Team France)
A1 Grand Prix
Champion
with Christian Vietoris
(Team Germany)

2006–07
Succeeded by:
Neel Jani
(Team Switzerland)
Preceded by:
Paul di Resta
Formula Three Masters
Winner

2007
Succeeded by:
Jules Bianchi
Preceded by:
Romain Grosjean
Formula Three Euroseries
Champion

2008
Succeeded by:
Jules Bianchi
Preceded by:
Giorgio Pantano
GP2 Series
Champion

2009
Succeeded by:
Incumbent