Hülkenberg breaks curse: first podium in F1 career

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A historic day for Nico Hülkenberg, who at Silverstone finally earned the first podium of his long Formula 1 career, ending one of the most unfortunate statistics in recent Formula 1 history. After no less than 239 Grands Prix, the German Sauber driver managed to climb into the top three in a nail-biting race dominated by unpredictable weather and decisive strategies. In fact, Hülkenberg ended his race in third place behind the two McLarens of Norris and Piastri.

Starting from the back of the field, Hülkenberg ran a masterful race, without mistakes and with the coolness of someone who knows how to seize the moment. The rain, the constantly changing conditions and the team’s perfect choices at crucial moments allowed the German to climb steadily up the rankings. In fact, Hülkenberg found himself incredibly in the fight for the podium.

In the post-race, visibly emotional, Hülkenberg said, “It’s a great feeling. It was a very long time of waiting, but I knew that sooner or later we would succeed. I still can’t believe what happened, everything seemed surreal.”

The German admitted that he was in disbelief until the last pit stop, when he finally began to think that the podium was really possible. Making the feat even more memorable was the close battle with Lewis Hamilton. In the final laps, the Briton tried hard to catch up with him in front of his home crowd. The German, however, was too far away for the Ferrari driver, who finished in fourth place.

“I thought Lewis would give everything to get the podium at Silverstone, but today was my day. I had to push hard and not make any mistakes,” recounted Hülkenberg, who barely held back tears over the radio just after the finish line.

After years of disappointments and near podiums, Nico Hülkenberg finally shattered the “curse” and wrote the most beautiful page of his career.

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