Nico Hulkenberg used all the experience of his 238 previous grands prix to make the pivotal tactical calls which finally delivered his first podium finish.
The race started on a track which was still wet in parts but drying rapidly. At first Hulkenberg resisted the temptation to switch to slick tyres as the Sauber strategists saw a window of opportunity as another shower headed towards the track.
But when Sauber called him in for slick tyres on lap two, Hulkenberg chose to stay out. The team tried to bring him in again on the next lap but told him too late.
Having stayed on his original set of tyres, Hulkenberg then made a perfectly-timed call to take a fresh set of intermediates on lap nine. Again the Sauber pit wall told him to do the opposite, but Hulkenberg told them his current tyres were too worn and overruled them again.
Here are his communications from the crucial opening laps of the race in full.
Hulkenberg’s radio communications: First 14 laps
Hulkenberg lined up 19th and last on the grid: Franco Colapinto, who qualified behind him, intended to start the race from the pit lane but never got going. Like all the others, Hulkenberg did this exploratory lap on intermediate tyres.
As he followed the field around the soggy track his race engineer Stephen Petrik reminded him he could pit for a set of slicks if he thought the conditions were dry enough. Despite the track drying in several places, Hulkenberg was concerned some parts of it were still too wet. Six other drivers chose to gamble on slicks:
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| Formation lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Hulkenberg pulls away from his starting position Just a reminder, Nico, if you feel the track is ready for slicks you can stop at the end of this formation lap. |
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| Hulkenberg | Yeah, copy. I’ll let you know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And it will be a standing start at the end of this lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Turn four, five, a dry line, all the way one and two is still quite wet. Six also quite wet and damp. Seven as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And it sounds like some competitors are saying it’s ready for slicks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Actually, it’s… I think it’s not… it’s really close. Still [unclear] quite damp but it will dry quickly once the race is go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah, copy. Will be a standing start. We would like to do the starts in first gear and standard target. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Yeah 13 is very wet here still, it’s too difficult, I don’t think – slick’s too aggressive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Okay, understood. Russell, Leclerc, Hadjar and Gabi are coming in, four cars. Six cars stopped for dry. Hulkenberg takes his position on the grid. In the pits, Bearman and Colapinto have also switched to slicks. |
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The cars completed almost all of the first lap at racing conditions before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to recover Liam Lawson’s crashed Racing Bulls. Hulkenberg felt the conditions were close to being ready for slick tyres.
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| Lap: 1/52 HUL: 1’53.433 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Mode race when you can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Maybe not this lap, but the next. Let’s get ready in any case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Understood Nico, Lawson is off the track, maybe we get a Safety Car here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | 15 is the biggest problem, very wet there. And here 16, 17 as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Copy that, Nico. And just for info, Russell and Bearman both fit hard. And VSC, virtual safety car. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sauber wanted Hulkenberg to pit on lap two. As the field was still under VSC, he would have lost less time compared to pitting under green flag conditions.
But Hulkenberg felt the track wasn’t ready for slicks yet and chose to stay out:
| Lap: 2/52 HUL: 2’15.863 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | I think there’s going to be a Safety Car with a lot of debris in that car. I think this will translate Safety Car, yeah. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Copy, Nico. Any additional read on balance there, Nico? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | No, not yet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | We will box this lap, Nico, box for medium. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Are you sure? I don’t know. I wouldn’t do that. He passes the pit lane entrance |
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| Hulkenberg | Stayed out. Also, you can’t keep temp at this speed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Petrik informed him Andrea Kimi Antonelli had pitted. This proved a poor decision for the Mercedes driver, who slipped back on his hard compound tyres.
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Sauber tried again to summon Hulkenberg in but this time the call came too late for him to react in time anyway:
| Lap: 3/52 HUL: 1’46.563 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And only Antonelli, boxed, only Antonelli. And we have some marshals on the right-hand side of the track. And we would go multi-A, BC position one, BC one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | At Becketts Like here is all good slicks but 15, 16, 17, 18 is a problem. What is Gabi saying? |
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| Petrik | Yeah, he said the same thing actually sector one and sector two are okay sector three is tricky. But we did see the temps building up. And from strategy side, we would still like to box for slicks now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Hulkenberg was too close to the pit entrance to pit in time Well you told me that, like I was at the pit entry, I don’t know. My feeling is still, you know, sector three is very tricky. Feels early here. |
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Hulkenberg told the team the track still wasn’t ready for slick tyres as the VSC period ended:
| Lap: 4/52 HUL: 1’51.575 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Understood. And VSC is ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Let me know early this time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah, will do, Nico. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | But I think still maybe one lap more. My feeling. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And stay out. Stay out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sauber informed Hulkenberg his team mate Gabriel Bortoleto had crashed while running the slick tyres. He was on the medium compound.
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This triggered a second VSC period, during which Sauber did not call Hulkenberg in to pit. By now the team was concerned by the approaching rain.
| Lap: 5/52 HUL: 2’16.140 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Give me feedback on the slick runners, how’s it going for them? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | So, Gabi crashed in turn two on the medium. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | At least starting to lose the inter, but the last sector is still very wet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah, copy that. And the slicks are currently slower, mostly from that sector three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And Virtual Safety Car, Virtual Safety Car. And Nico, we do expect rain in around six laps, six or seven laps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 6/52 HUL: 2’01.737 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | I felt like the tyres were heating a lot. I don’t know what you’re doing with the BC, but floor cooling is good. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah, that’s what we have at the moment, Nico. It’s as much cooling as we have. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | And [unclear] with the diff, quite a bit of understeer mid-corner, low-speed, so open mid, but high speed, I came down two as well for understeer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Copy that, Nico, he was just suggesting entry position five. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Yeah, there doesn’t look like any rain around you at the moment, but… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah, it’s coming, Nico. It’s on the radar, for sure. And we also suggest state position 10, state 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lance Stroll, whom Hulkenberg passed on the first lap, pitted for a set of soft slicks. But Hulkenberg pointed out he would need another set of fresh intermediate tyres when the rain returned:
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| Lap: 7/52 HUL: 2’01.737 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And that’s Stroll in the pit lane now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | If that rain comes it will be tricky anyway with this worn inter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah understood Nico we were discussing fitting a fresh inter. Stroll out on a new soft. So car in front is Tsunoda and car behind is Ocon. Behind Ocon is Stroll seven seconds on a new soft. We suggest EB7. VSC is ending, charge off, and we’ll be mode RS if you want. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And high-speed management and cool the tyres where you can Nico. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 8/52 HUL: 1’46.517 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | They’re really fucked. No grip at all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And rain is coming in three laps, Nico, do your best. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As the track reached its driest state before the rain returned, Stroll was significantly quicker on his slicks. He took 3.2 seconds off Hulkenberg on lap eight, and the Sauber driver was surprised to be passed by the Aston Martin on the run from Copse to Becketts.
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Sauber told Hulkenberg to stay out another lap before pitting for intermediates. But he was concerned about the state of his existing tyres and called for a pit stop:
| Lap: 9/52 HUL: 1’45.879 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | We have some rain reported in turn seven. We expect this to last 10 minutes. And let me know if a fresh set of inter is good for you. We are ready. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | I think yes, it depends on the intensity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Well we think same intensity as the laps to the grid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Stroll passes him on the outside approaching Maggotts Fuck. I didn’t see Stroll at all coming. Warning would have been good. |
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| Hulkenberg | Tell me what to do. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And stay out, stay out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | My, God, these tyres are fucked. Box, I’m coming in the box. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | He pits and takes intermediates Pit lane. |
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Hulkenberg was the first driver to pit for a second set of intermediates. Only two drivers followed him on the next lap: Stroll and Hadjar. But on lap 11 almost every driver remaining on the track headed for the pits. While they lost time, Hulkenberg set the fastest lap of anyone on that lap.
| Lap: 10/52 HUL: 2’04.672 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | That’s Bearman behind on a hard and Hadjar in front on a medium. Try to take it easy on these inters do not destroy them on the opening laps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Come on, let it rain! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Stroll and Russell in the pit lane now, will be close with them on exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 11/52 HUL: 1’45.789 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Car in front is Stroll on inter, car behind is Russell on inter. Special two, turn nine, special two. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Yeah, feels quite neutral. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And the leaders are boxing for a fresh side of inter now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Hulkenberg attacks Stroll on the outside approaching Club He’s not leaving the car width there, braking. |
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The only driver who didn’t pit within the first dozen laps was Esteban Ocon. Hulkenberg passed him for seventh place as the rain increased and conditions reached their worst.
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| Lap: 12/52 HUL: 1’47.347 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Copy, Nico. We are reporting. Nico, we are currently P7. Ocon in front of Stroll is still on his race start, inter, old inter. Stroll passes Ocon at Stowe and Hulkenberg does the same immediately afterwards at Club |
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| Petrik | That’s Albon in the pit lane. Hulkenberg attacks Stroll at Village and The Loop but can’t get by |
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| Lap: 13/52 HUL: 1’53.815 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Heavy rain at six, seven here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And we expect this level of intensity for the next lap and a half. We are currently P5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Oh yeah, I think it’s steady wet. It’s like full wet, this is bad. I can’t see shit now | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The rain became so heavy the Safety Car was deployed. By this point Hulkenberg was running in fifth place.
Over the remaining laps he passed Stroll, gained another position when Max Verstappen spun and held off Lewis Hamilton. He clinched his first podium finish at his 239th attempt – largely thanks to his cool-headed decision-making at the start of the race.
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| Lap: 14/52 HUL: 2’18.607 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | And Safety Car, Safety Car. And let’s go mode SC, mode SC and charge off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hulkenberg | Visibility really poor. Couldn’t see Stroll, two times so far. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Petrik | Yeah copy that, Nico. And we expect the rain intensity to start reducing now. And it’s already dropping here in the pit lane. So update on race situation Nico: we have three cars retired, that’s Gabi, Lawson and Colapinto, and the cars in front of you are Piastri, Verstappen, Norris and Stroll. Then cars behind are Gasly, Ocon – Ocon still on his race start set, inter – then Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Sainz. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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