Hülkenberg: I was in denial until probably the last pit stop

Kick Sauber veteran Hülkenberg delivered a heroic performance in a chaotic and rain-hit British Grand Prix, charging from the back end of the grid to finish third behind Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

“Yeah, good. It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?” Hülkenberg said in parc ferme after the chaotic race at Silverstone. “I always knew we had it in us, I had it in me somewhere. So what a race, coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend. It’s pretty surreal, to be honest.”

After a dismal qualifying left him near the back, Hülkenberg and his team judged the changing weather perfectly to vault up the order. “It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. We were really on it. The right calls, the right tyres, at the right moment. Made no mistakes. Quite incredible.”

Even as seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton chased him in the final laps, Hülkenberg stayed calm. “Today, I think I was in denial until probably the last pit stop. When I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, okay, this is good, this is some breathing space.

"But then he was catching quite quickly. I was thinking that he’s going to give it all here in front of his home crowd. And I was like, sorry guys, but it’s also my day. I’ve got to stick my neck out.”

In the FIA press conference, Hülkenberg reflected further on how the race played out: “Before we pitted back onto slicks, I passed Lance, then Lewis passed Lance pretty quickly. I was able to keep him at bay and even pull away when the Inters started to wear more. We made a really good call by stopping one lap later than he did for the slicks and gained around ten seconds. That gap was crucial.”

From there, he just had to bring it home. “It felt like a pretty long ten, eleven, twelve laps, whatever it was. But I knew we had every chance to get this result. We just needed to keep it on the road while pushing.”

The significance of the result was not lost on the 36-year-old German, who has endured more than a decade of near-misses, most memorably spinning out of podium contention in the rain at the 2019 German Grand Prix. “I thought about it. But today is better,” he said.

Behind the scenes, Kick Sauber's upturn in form has been attributed in part to the arrival of Jonathan Wheatley, formerly of Red Bull, whose experience and leadership have quickly made a difference.

As GrandPrix247 reported on Monday, Wheatley said, “The monkey is off Hülkenberg’s back. There’s no denying he had the speed and experience - but now he has the silverware to go with it.”

Hülkenberg joked about the unique nature of the trophy he received. “I love Lego. It’s good. My daughter can play with it too. You’ve always got to see the bright side. But a bit of silver or gold would have been nice too. I won’t complain.”

The result also extended Kick Sauber’s points-scoring run and marked the fourth consecutive weekend the team has outscored Red Bull, highlighting the rapid progress they’ve made since Barcelona.

“If we had a dry race, it would have been a very different day and outcome for us,” Hülkenberg admitted. “Today is obviously circumstantial, and the conditions made this result possible. But we’ve definitely gained some momentum, and we are a serious competitor in the midfield.”

With a summer reset ahead and the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks, Hülkenberg finally gets to enjoy something that had eluded him for over a decade. “At the moment I’m just happy, relieved. It’s going to sink in more over the next few hours and the next few days. I think I’ll feel the enjoyment even more in the week to come.”