Many of Nico Hulkenberg’s rivals were delighted to see him end his 16-year wait for a podium finish at Silverstone.

His performance also caused a great deal of surprise, as he rose from 19th on the grid to reach the rostrum for the first time in his career.

Charles Leclerc, who fell to 14th at the end of the race, was surprised to spot a Sauber among the top three runners in the footage shown on the trackside screens.

“I was checking if it was Gabriel [Bortoleto] or Nico,” said Leclerc. “I was on my own, ‘P-last’, so I had the luxury to be able to look at the big screens in the last two or three laps.

“When I saw the green [car] I was like, ‘what the hell is going on there?’ And it was Nico. So congrats to him. He must have done an incredible race.”

Max Verstappen, who finished two places behind Hulkenberg, said: “It’s fantastic, I’m really happy for him.

“It was very nice to see because I guess when you’re in F1 for such a long time and you have not been on the podium and been so close a few times, I think this is pretty special for him.”

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While Hulkenberg has waited 239 races since his F1 debut in 2010 to stand on the podium, he had considerable success in his junior career and won the Le Mans 24 Hours 10 years ago. Verstappen said his qualities as a driver were clear even without a podium to his name.

“I think Nico is quite relaxed in that sense,” said Verstappen. “He knows what he can do. He has shown that also in the past before Formula 1 and in Formula 1 but for whatever reason it didn’t work out up until now.

“So for sure he’ll take it and he’ll be very happy but I think he knows anyway how good he is. A podium does not suddenly say that you are a lot better. It’s just really nice for him to at least be on an F1 podium.”

The Sauber team erupted in joy as Hulkenberg delivered their first podium finish for 13 years, including their spell under the Alfa Romeo name. Bortoleto, who crashed out on the fourth lap of the race, said “I’m happy for Nico, he did an amazing job and the team deserved it.

“After a difficult day for me, they all deserve some good points and a podium for the first time for Nico and the team this year.”

“The whole team was screaming and jumping, so I was with them,” he added. “I didn’t even have a radio, I was just jumping with the engineers and the mechanics, everyone, and I went running to the podium because I wanted to give a hug to Nico because what he did today was spectacular.”

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Pictures: Hulkenberg’s podium celebration

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