Lewis Hamilton has officially endured his longest wait for a podium in Formula 1 – but Nico Hulkenberg can celebrate a first top-three finish.
Hulkenberg, who qualified 19th, delighted the Silverstone crowd by taking his first F1 podium at the British Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg held off Hamilton in the Brit’s home race at SilverstoneGettyThe Sauber racer, who made his debut in motorsport’s elite in 2010, was the driver with the most career starts without a podium.
The German, who has achieved one pole position and two fastest laps in his F1 career, has finished fourth three times before.
Hulkenberg fell one spot short of third at the 2012 and 2016 Belgian Grands Prix, as well as the 2013 Korean GP.
His 593 points were the most a driver had accumulated in F1 history without a win/podium.
However, Hulkenberg finally snapped his unwanted streak in his 239th race to secure Sauber’s first podium finish since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, when Sergio Perez crossed the line in second.
Speaking post-race, a delighted Hulkenberg said: “It feels good. It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?
“But I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me, somewhere.
“What a race. Coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend.
“It’s pretty surreal, to be honest. I’m not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy, mixed conditions.
“It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it with the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes – quite incredible.
Norris won McLaren’s first British GP since Hamilton in 2008AFP GettyBut Hulkenberg sparked just as big celebrations for finishing third[/caption]“I was in denial until probably the last pit stop, but then when I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, ‘ok, this is good, this is some breathing space.’
“But then he was catching quite quickly, so the pressure was there. It was an intense race but we didn’t crack, no mistakes, and obviously really, really happy with that.”
“I was thinking that he’s going to give it all in front of his home crowd, and I was like, ‘sorry guys, but it’s also my day.’ I had to stick my neck out. I’m super happy.”
In doing so, Hulkenberg made sure Hamilton has now surpassed his longest wait for a podium in his first year at Ferrari.
The 40-year-old has not stood on a grand prix podium since his runners-up finish in Las Vegas 14 races ago.
A win in the Chinese Sprint aside, Hamilton has largely struggled in the main Grand Prix for his new team so far in 2025.
It was a historic day for F1 veteran HulkenbergHamilton at the British GP: The last 12 years
2014 1st
2015 1st
2016 1st
2017 1st
2018 2nd
2019 1st
2020 1st
2021 1st
2022 3rd
2023 3rd
2024 1st
2025 4th
Failure to cross the line as one of the British Grand Prix’s top-three on Sunday is the 14th successive race without a podium for the Brit.
As such, it is now his longest run without one, which came between the 2023 Sao Paulo and the 2024 Spanish Grands Prix.
Silverstone’s most successful driver, who won the circuit for a record-extending ninth time last year, had been on the podium at the British GP for his last 11 consecutive home races.
Hamilton’s skill in a rainy Silverstone failed to replicate the scenes of his first victory at the British Grand Prix, having risen from fourth on the grid to cross the chequered flag for McLaren in 2008.
Hamilton needed to wait another six years to taste victory on home soil, but his move to Mercedes began a run of utter dominance.
Between 2014 and 2021, Hamilton won seven out of the eight races at Silverstone, with Sebastian Vettel winning the sole other race in 2018.
Last year, the Stevenage-born racer won at Silverstone to claim his first win in over 900 days, leaving him in floods of tears.
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