The sporting life of a driver can take the most unexpected turns, even at the age of 36. Nico Hulkenberg, starting from 2025, will return to being a driver who will race for the single-seaters that are produced in Hinwil. For a year he will return to Sauber, then he will be one of Audi’s two official drivers.
An opportunity that seemed never to come again, but instead the German found himself to be a fundamental player for a project, that of the Ingolstadt house, which was ambitious to say the least. The multi-year contract that will bind him to the German team will take him to Switzerland as early as next year, giving him the opportunity to get to know the team well in view of Audi’s arrival in 2026.
“Being in Hinwil already in 2025 buys us some time. We will get to know each other better. There are still some faces that I know from 2013, but also many new ones. I will still have the Ferrari power unit, so that will not be foreign to me. But obviously I’ll have to get to know the team, the infrastructure and then try to help the team and try things.”
What drove Hulkenberg to accept Audi’s court? Money, of course, but at 36 years old he often goes looking for the right project, even more so if he’s been hoping for a call like this for years. The presence of Andreas Seidl as a fundamental figure in the Audi project had an influence, but what convinced Nico to move back to Hinwil was what Audi managed to offer him for the future.
“Seidl’s presence is certainly important, but it’s a secondary fact. I wasn’t looking for German people, but the best sports package and the best opportunity for the future. I think Audi is the right one for me.”
The Audi F1 showcar
Photo credit: Audi Communications Motorsport
“Of course Seidl will be important because he is one of the key people in Audi’s management. So, obviously, he was the one who decided. He is a direct and frank guy. I remember in 2020 when there was COVID. I remember calling him to find out if they needed me at McLaren. He was very direct, telling me: ‘No, don’t even hope for it. This time, two years later, things are very different “.
Hulkenberg, who returned permanently to Formula 1 last year with Haas, has certainly not forgotten his current team. Indeed, out of gratitude he kept the leaders of the American team informed about his market movements, not hiding the fact that there were also concrete possibilities of renewing with the reality directed today by Ayao Komatsu.
“I believe that joining Audi is a reward for the good work I have done in recent months. Of course, I also made some mistakes, but all in all I believe that the performances were quite good. And this is always a convincing argument, the best one. In parallel I also carried out the negotiation to stay in Haas. I had told Ayao (Komatsu, the team principal) that the market around me was moving.”
“Certainly there was the possibility that I would stay in Haas because they are a small team, but the environment is really nice, happy, positive and they gave me the opportunity to return to F1. Furthermore, we also achieved good results. Maybe small, but we celebrated because those results, obtained with a team of this size, have a nice flavor”, concluded Hulkenberg.
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