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Nico Hulkenberg will be a Sauber driver once again in 2025. Many of the new fans might not know that he has driven for the team before. The German veteran drove for the team in 2013, when he was in his third year in F1.
At the time, Hulkenberg was one of the highly rated young drivers in F1 and was touted to be in contention for a seat at Ferrari in 2014. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, just like quite a few other big team moves the German was linked with in the past.
Nevertheless, Nico Hulkenberg's stock was very high in 2013, and he had performances that turned heads. Famously, Martin Brundle even questioned in 2013 why Hulkenberg was not in the top team already.
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There was evidence behind such a statement as well, as what Hulkenberg showed in 2013 was a driver who was capable of something special. Let's take a look at some of the stunning race weekends the German put together in 2013, which turned the heads of many in the paddock.
Three stunning drives from Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber
#1 2013 F1 Italian GP (Qualified P3, finished P5)
Imagine driving for a Ferrari customer team today, beating both drivers in qualifying, and finishing just a second behind one of them in the race.
This was the race weekend put together by Hulkenberg in Monza in the 2013 Italian GP. The German was driving a Sauber, an underfunded customer team at the time, and surprised everyone in qualifying with a quality lap that saw him outqualify both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa at Ferrari.
In the race, the overall superior pace of the Ferrari saw the two drivers leapfrog Hulkenberg, but the fact that he could even be competitive against them was a massive surprise.
To add further context to his performance, Hulkenberg's teammate Esteban Gutierrez was P17 in qualifying and finished P13 in the race. After a strong 2012 F1 season, Hulkenberg was using the Ferrari-engined Sauber to turn heads in 2013 as well.
#2 2013 F1 Korean GP GP (Qualified P8, Finished P4)
When you're driving a Sauber and tasked with the responsibility of beating two of the best talents on the grid, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, while driving a slower car, you're mostly losing that battle.
Add to it the fact that you're racing in Korea, one of the racier tracks on the F1 calendar at the time, the task becomes even more complicated. This was the challenge in front of Nico Hulkenberg in Korea in 2013, as he had to fend off both Alonso and Hamilton while driving a Sauber.
To the surprise of many, Nico Hulkenberg fended off both drivers and ended the race in P4. The German has often seen detractors point to his 'no-podium' statistic, but in many ways, the P4 was more impressive than the race executions of far too many podium scorers.
#3 2013 F1 US GP (Qualified P4, finished P6)
The 2013 F1 US GP was another example of Nico Hulkenberg punching above his weight in a Sauber. The car just didn't belong in the places he was able to fit it, and it was down to his prodigious speed over a lap followed by impressive race craft that helped him keep position.
In just the second race at Austin, Nico Hulkenberg qualified P4 in the Sauber, beating the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton en route his second start of the season on the second row.
He would eventually finish the race in P6, continuing to remain competitive against elite drivers in cars that were just far better than what he had under him.
