Yahoo Sports Future Audi Partner Sauber Signs Nico Hülkenberg for 2025. Is He Up for the Task?
Nico Hülkenberg has been hired to race a Formula 1 car full-time on six separate occasions. Williams, Force India, Sauber, Force India again, Renault, and now Haas have all made unique decisions to sign Hülkenberg, and Hülkenberg has finished his time with each team without ever scoring a podium. It is a fascinating and somewhat deceptive stat for a driver who has become the king of respectable runs to points in the mid-pack, a feat he has once again been hired to repeat at Sauber in 2025. This one comes with some expectations, though: It is a multi-year deal, one that will extend into Sauber's future as the Audi factory team in 2026.
While the hire itself is odd, the strangest part is the multi-year commitment. Nico Hülkenberg is just six weeks younger than Sebastian Vettel, a long-retired four-time champion of the sport. In his ten completed full-time seasons, Hülkenberg has finished better than ninth in the driver's championship just once. His greatest career achievement came outside of F1, winning the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans as one of three drivers in Porsche's extra 919 Hybrid entered into the field. When Sauber becomes Audi in 2026, Hülkenberg will be 37 and possibly still waiting for his first career F1 podium.
The future outlook is confounding, but the present hire is more sensible. Currently, Sauber is struggling for points as it races under the title sponsorship of an online cryptocurrency casino. Until Audi joins the program, this is a lost team in need of direction from a veteran driver. Hülkenberg can offer it, just as he does to Haas today and just as he has for five prior stints at other F1 teams. The goal next year will not be to win, it will be to get the car in the points often enough that the program can secure more vital constructor's championship funds than their rivals at the back of the pack.
That goal changes in 2026. When this team becomes Audi, Hülkenberg has a much more serious job. This team will be expected to win races sooner rather than later, and that means a driver near the end of his career with no accolades to speak of will have to play a part in dragging a team all the way from the back of the grid to the front. The decision suggests that Sauber leadership thinks Hülkenberg is up for the task, but it is a tall order.
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